Autumn Statement: Last but not least
Editorial: Chancellor Philip Hammond has tried his best to deliver an Autumn Statement the pensions industry would for once be pleased with.
Consulting on fraud and a ban on cold calling is what some might term ‘an easy win’ – who would be against protecting hopeful retirees from scammers? The move was welcomed, as our article on pages four and five reports.
It perhaps only begs the question as to why such a ban was not proposed and introduced earlier; the industry and media, including this publication, had certainly been warning about scams for some time.
The Autumn Statement did not contain any surprises on the pensions front other than perhaps the reduction of the money purchase annual allowance to £4,000 from £10,000. Some say the reduction will come with unintended consequences, but the government might address some of these concerns in its response to the consultation on the details of the change.
A controversial overhaul of pensions tax relief did not materialise. Speculation about a move to a flat rate or taxed, exempt, exempt arrangement had been rife under the previous chancellor.
Chancellor proposes ban on cold calling, refrains from pensions tax overhaul
In his first and last Autumn Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond swapped the timing of the Budget and the Statement but had comparatively little to say about pensions for now; one of the larger measures – a consultation into pensions fraud – was welcomed by the industry.
It is perhaps not surprising that this government is also holding off making decisions unpopular with Conservative voters, as it tries to rebuild support ahead of EU negotiations after its handling of Brexit has already been criticised and legally challenged.
A note by the Treasury revealing that two-thirds of pensions tax relief goes to higher rate and additional rate taxpayers has got the rumour mill back in motion, but the Financial Times reports that the Treasury has no plans at present to reform the pensions tax regime fundamentally.
Finally, Hammond’s decision to return the Statement to an account, responding to the forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility but with “no major fiscal event”, will have been acknowledged with satisfaction by an industry still trying to come to grips with the myriad changes introduced over the past few years.
Sandra Wolf is editor at Pensions Expert. You can follow her on Twitter @SandraCWK and the team @pensions_expert.