Pensions - Articles - Comment: Osborne to postpone statement on pension tax relief

  It seems for now, at least, that politics has triumphed over economics but this is more likely to be a postponement of plans rather than a cancellation. The current system of incentives is not well understood, poorly targeted and fiscally unsustainable in the long term if we are to lift pension savings to the level they need to be in order to deliver prosperous retirements for UK citizens.

 Richard Parkin, Head of Pensions at Fidelity International commented:“The threat of radical change to pension tax relief appears to have receded for now but the problems identified in the Chancellor’s review and the subsequent national debate remain. We expect this is action postponed rather than action abandoned. We should use this time to have a fuller and less hurried debate of how best to support long term pension saving. We already have changes coming into effect for higher earners in April that are causing significant disruption and we urge the Chancellor not to fiddle with the system further. If we are to make changes then let us do that in a considered and orderly way rather than continuing the tinkering that adds complexity and undermines public confidence in the pension system.

 “We would still urge consumers to make the most of the current system while it is still in place – this is a postponement and not a cancellation of change.”