Pensions
DRA takes second place to pensions
Small businesses are more concerned about automatic enrolment into pensions affecting their finances than the abolition of the default retirement age (DRA), despite it meaning employers have to pay employee pension contributions for longer.: The issue of continued pensions payments was raised at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s Employment Law conference last month by audience members who expressed concern over increased payouts.
Mon, 1 Aug 2011 • Read more
Pension guidance law unclear
Employers with overseas staff risk being caught out by automatic pensions enrolment legislation because of unclear government guidelines, an employment lawyer has warned.: Guidance published by the Pensions Regulator in May - ‘Employer duties and defining the workforce’ - sets out how employers should identify which employees are required by law to be auto-enrolled into a pensions scheme.
Fri, 1 Jul 2011 • Read more
Employers lack knowledge of pensions reform
The Pensions Regular has called for employers to identify when forthcoming pensions duties will affect them, following research that showed a third of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are unaware they must soon provide a qualifying pension scheme to all employees.: According to a survey of 1,500 SMEs by software provider Sage, nearly half do not currently offer a pension scheme and more than half believe the Pensions Act 2008, which introduced the legislation, will not impact their business.
Fri, 1 Apr 2011 • Read more
Pension tax relief plummeting
The Government has announced that personal tax relief on pensions will be lowered to £50,000 annually. This is over five times lower than the £255,000 previously allowed by pension savers, but more than the £40,000 ceiling anticipated following the coalition’s emergency budget in June this year.: Initial proposals, by the previous Labour Government, were designed to reduce the proportion of aggregate tax relief going to higher earners. The Financial Times reported this month that the percentage of tax relief going to those earning £150,000 or more accounted for a quarter of all tax relief on pensions despite those individuals totalling just 1.5% of all payments into pension funds.
Thu, 4 Nov 2010 • Read more
Pension age could be 66 within five years
Pensions experts are predicting a swifter rise in the state retirement age following shock figures from the Office for National Statistics that showed the ratio of working adults for every pensioner will fall from four to three within a decade. It could plummet to just two workers per retired individual by 2040.: Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said: ‘The current plan to raise it [the pension age] to 68 we think could be accelerated. It seems silly to wait.’
Thu, 2 Sep 2010 • Read more
NAPF puts faith in reforms
Pension changes to be introduced in 2012 could end the decline of private sector employees saving in workplace pensions, according to the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).: The changes will include the introduction of private pension accounts, which employees can transfer when they change jobs and require employers to contribute 4%.
Fri, 1 May 2009 • Read more
Government tackles overpaid pensions
The Government has explained how it overpaid pensions for teachers, NHS staff, the armed forces and the Judicial and Civil Service.: They are estimated to have received around £3.70 a month too much.
Fri, 2 Jan 2009 • Read more
Company forced to file early to gain 22% relief
A UK company was advised to send out its March pension contributions three weeks early so its employees can benefit from the 22% rate of tax relief before it drops to 20% on 6 April.: Electronics packaging solutions provider Schroff UK has made plans to pay its employee pension contributions several weeks ahead of the due date following advice from its financial adviser, which was supported by pensions provider Scottish Equitable.
Wed, 2 Apr 2008 • Read more
New pensions 'will be mis-sold'
Proposed Personal Accounts as the Government’s way of alleviating the pensions crisis ‘will definitely be mis-sold’, Dave Roberts, a senior consultant at Watson Wyatt, told the autumn Payroll World conference.: The issue dominated discussion at the Question and Answer session at the close of the morning session of the conference.
Fri, 30 Nov 2007 • Read more
MP's concern on pensions PAYE
At the 10 October Public Accounts Committee meeting, Richard Bacon MP picked up on the ending of the effective no-tax regime for small pensions, which are to be brought into the PAYE scheme from 2007/08. In total, around 420,000 pensions are affected.: He said to the HMRC officials: ‘What the Low Income Tax Reform Group is concerned about is ... people who do not yet know that they have a liability and who will not find out that they have a liability until 2008/09 or even 2009/10.’
Wed, 31 Oct 2007 • Read more
Concern as small pensions go on PAYE
Concern is growing over the administrative challenge for payroll providers as HMRC tries to bring small pension payrolls into the PAYE system. The Employers Bulletin admits that many individuals’ details are not on Revenue databases. See Feature, page 24, September issue
Thu, 30 Aug 2007 • Read more
DC members lose out on £225m each year
Defined contribution (DC) members lose £225m a year because they fail to take advantage of pensions contribution matching offered by their employers. Younger members are least likely to gain maximum employer contributions, according to the research, published by Xafinity Consulting.: Andrew Dickson, corporate client development manager at Standard Life, said: ‘Too many employers do not take the opportunity to help staff understand the value of DC schemes.’
Tue, 3 Jul 2007 • Read more
'Champions' asked to ward off pensions crisis
Tue, 3 Jul 2007 • Read more
Poor annuity returns
Poor annuity returns have given those on the verge of retirement little cause for celebration recently, with annuity rates halving in the last 10 years. But David Blake, director and founder of the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School, believes that better value annuities could be around the corner, once a market for longevity risk has been established.
Fri, 1 Jun 2007 • Read more
Levy 'will rise fivefold'
Some pension schemes will pay five times as much into the Pension Protection Fund as they did last year, according to actuarial consultancy Watson Wyatt. ‘In the first two years of the Fund it raised less than half the money it needed,’ said Stephen Yeo, senior consultant at Watson Wyatt. ‘Now it is attempting to claw back some of the deficit.’
Fri, 1 Jun 2007 • Read more
Gurkhas’ pension reform
Gurkhas serving in the British Army will receive the same pensions as British soldiers, the Ministry of Defence announced.: Currently, they receive one sixth of the average army pension. The reforms will not apply to Nepalese soldiers who retired before July 1997.
Mon, 2 Apr 2007 • Read more
Redundancy allowed in pensions
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs has changed its stance and will now allow redundancy payments to be invested into a pension fund.: HMRC has previously taken the position stating no part of a redundancy payment could count towards earnings, and therefore receive tax relief as a contribution into a pension scheme.
Mon, 2 Apr 2007 • Read more
BA pension solution
British Airways has accepted changes recommended by its four unions, represented by the BA Forum, to make changes to its New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS), which has a £2.1bn deficit.: The company will make a one-off contribution of £800m, subject to the acceptance of benefit changes.
Thu, 1 Feb 2007 • Read more
Pensions may threaten employers, says report
Improving funding for pension schemes could threaten employers, according to the Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund.: Its survey of 5,772 defined benefit pension schemes, with 12.6m active, deferred and retired members, revealed 58% of schemes were closed to new members and 3% closed altogether.
Thu, 1 Feb 2007 • Read more
No pension haul for fishermen
Thousands of fishermen who worked on fleets around the UK in the 1960s and 1970s have not received the pensions they were entitled to, revealed Norwich Union.: The pensions provider launched a ‘Find the Fishermen’ scheme to track down 4,537 workers who have never claimed the money owed to them.
Thu, 1 Feb 2007 • Read more
