How a stealth tax rise on pensions savings risks backfiring on Reeves

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

59% : " A survey of business leaders by the ABI and the Reward and Employee Benefits Association last year found that nearly half of employers that pay staff more than the minimum pension would consider reducing their contributions if NI was introduced on their pension payments.
52% : Employers benefit from lower employer NI contributions when staff use these schemes, because the tax is only applied to pay left over after pension contributions.
49% : Many employers could cut their pension contributions if the Chancellor presses ahead with plans to reduce the tax breaks they and their employees receive in the Budget, they told The i Paper.
47% : Rachel Reeves's plans to limit a tax break on pension contributions could stop savers from increasing their retirement pots and pile pressure on the state pension in the long run, experts have warned.
47% : " He said this would force firms to consider whether their existing arrangements "remain worthwhile". Yvonne Braun, director of long-term savings at the Association of British Insurers, a trade body that represents pensions firms, said pensions policy "must not become a testing ground for short-term revenue raising through stealth taxes".
46% : He said: "My concern would be that it would have a significant impact on people considering their contribution levels, and people may well not provision correctly for retirement because of it." A survey of Quilter clients last month found that if the tax benefits of salary sacrifice schemes were reduced, one in four respondents (25 per cent) would stop using them altogether and nearly one in five (19 per cent) would contribute less. Mr Cook said many employers use the savings they make on NI to match employees' pensions contributions beyond the statutory minimum, but cuts to their tax relief could put a stop to this.

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