A financial advisor said "Doctors worry
about the tax bills in their pension. It has been part
of every
2/ conversation I’ve had with a doctor for
three to four years but now it is really front and
centre. This problem for the doctors is having an
immediate knock-on effect on waiting lists."
3/ The key problem is due to the rate of increase of inflation which is unprecendented
4/ Due to the complex way AA is calculated, a flaw in the Finance Act uses the previous september CPI to define "opening value" which is how much your pensions can increase before being tested by the Annual Allowance. Last years CPI was 3.1%
5/ But this year inflation is currently running at 9.1% with Bank of England predicting it might reach 11%. Even at 10% by September, plus 1.5% for dynamisation / revaluation - this could cause eye watering charges for doctors, especially GPs who have longer in a CARE scheme
6/ "According to the BMA, some GPs earning £115,000 (the average salary for a GP partner) could be lumped with an annual allowance tax charge bill of
more than £30,000 for the 2022-23 tax year"
7/ "Doctors are also being caught out by the lifetime
allowance, which is set at £1,073,100. If your pot or
pension benefits are worth more than this, you
could be taxed as much as 55 per cent on the excess,
when you withdraw it."
Please also note this is also a big problem
8/ with runaway inflation. Inflation at 10% this year equates to a 10% real terms drop in the LTA by it being frozen. We already know there is a close relationship between lowering the LTA & Voluntary Early Retirements 👇
What will a further 10% real terms drop in LTA do?
9/ "The BMA wants the NHS pension scheme to become a “tax unregistered scheme”. This would mean that doctors would not get tax relief on their
contributions, but then the pension would not be
tested against the annual or lifetime allowance."
This is absolutely correct long term
10/ However the urgency of the 22/23 situation will require more urgent action. @BMA_Pensions have already met with officials from DHSC & also HM Treasury to suggest 3 immediate actions that could help
11/ [1] The Finance Act is clearly broken. It is intended to measure growth ABOVE inflation, but currently is doing nothing of the sort. With a very small amendment a single value for CPI could be used
12/ [2] Another quirk in the Finance Act relating to "'negative growth" needs fixing at the same time
13/ [3] Finally if the Finance Act cannot be changed, other solutions like the 19/20 AA compensation scheme could be rolled out in all 4 nations
14/ Its fair to say we are extremely worried in @BMA_Pensions about the 22/23 tax year. Very high inflation is driving massive & unprecented AA tax bills, other quirks in the systen are driving early retirements & LTA is being destroyed by high inflation.
15/ Same edition of the ST @ShaunLintern reports 👇 that waiting lists could reach 14.3m by 2030.
1/ NEW & IMPORTANT: Quarterly NHS pay data updated 27/6/24 👇 In BREAKING NEWS NEW charts now show ALL SECTORS have reached #FullPayRestoration (though NOT, of course, the NHS)
2/ You'll notice when ministers are in the media, they often talk about how hard "your viewers/listeners" have been hit by inflation. But what we need to do is separate fact from fiction (aka LIES), it was 👇excellent @jburnmurdoch @FT chart that really showed this well last year
@jburnmurdoch @FT 3/ But its not just government ministers gaslighting NHS workers that they have no right for their pay to keep up (like everyone else's), it was also so-called "independent" DDRB👇
Apparently doctors & dentists should not be protected when "its not taking place in other groups"
2/ You'll notice when ministers are in the media, they often talk about how hard "your viewers/listeners" have been hit by inflation. But what we need to do is separate fact from fiction (aka LIES), it was 👇excellent @jburnmurdoch @FT chart that really showed this well last year
@jburnmurdoch @FT 3/ But its not just government ministers gaslighting NHS workers that they have no right for their pay to keep up (like everyone else's), it was also so-called "independent" DDRB👇
Apparently doctors & dentists should not be protected when "its not taking place in other groups"
1/ *VERY* concerned about the quality & type of information coming to @BMA_Pensions members to allow them to make choices in regards to McCloud.
For members who chose to move to 2008 (so called "choice 2", we saw the first of this information last week - deep dive 🧵
Pls RT
2/ OK first of all, lets rewind. Pre 2008 we were all in the 1995 section. For most members that had a fixed retirement age of 60, and gave us "80ths" of final salary. Work 40 years, get 40/80ths or 1/2 of your final salary. Simple. Back in the day contributions were 5% or 6%
3/ As we all started to live longer, government felt this was unnafordable as we were spending longer in retirement. So they introduced the 2008 scheme
- 1/60th not 1/80ths
- Retire at 65 not 60
- So called "Reckonable" pay - based on best of 3yr in last 10, inflation adjusted
1/ NEW: Consultation response out & confirmaiton of rates 1st April '24 , dropping the 13.5% tier.
Grateful government listened to concerns about feezing the top tier so tiers WILL uplift with CPI, not creating (another) "fiscal drag" for higher earners
2/ This repesents a change from previously announced where tiers were to be uplifts of AFC awards (largest employee group). I had suggested a "double lock" of greater of CPI or announced awards, which was supported by the scheme board, but sadly rejected by government
3/ @BMA_Pensions again raised concerns that the @nhs_pensions has a higher contribution rate than many public sector schemes, and has the steepest structure.
We continue believe it should be much flatter, or flat, in a CARE scheme will all paying the same for the same £1 pension
1/ NEW & BREAKING: @instituteforgov supported in analysis by @CIPFA issue an UPDATED pay erosion chart for NHS workers including @TheBMA doctors & @theRCN nurses👇
WHY is this so relevant: This now includes pay data released in '24 to Sept '23 INCLUDING 6/12 of 23/24 pay awads
- pay erosion in NHS from austerity
- uses CPI preferred by gvmnt & some economists
- crucially shows 6/12 effect of DDRB 23/24- starting basis for all pay deals (i.e. not a lot)
@RobLaurensonD4P @_VivekTrivedi @TheBMA @BMA_Consultants @BMA_JuniorDocs @Doctors_Vote 3/ So this chart uses the latest available data (released in 2024) includes the latest pay deals
Despite this @BMA_JuniorDocs down a STAGGERING 25.0% in real terms
REMEMBER: This is using CPI, not RPI, which would produce a higher figure (RPI includes mortgage interest etc)
1/ *Deeply* worrying from @RishiSunak @10DowningStreet on @bbclaurak
Watch the clip in full 👇and pick out the blatant untruths - its so unbelievable they went unchallenged Laura K?
Apparently "The government has now reached resolution with every other part of the NHS. ....
2/ "Nurses, midwives, paramedics, consultant doctors, specialty doctors most recently. "
"So EVERY other part of the NHS workforce, and I'm grateful to them for everything they're doing, has reached a resolution with the government on a reasonable, fair pay settlement. "
3/ According to our PM
"The only people that haven't are the junior doctors."
How can this go unchallanged?
To be clear @BMA_Consultants (nor @BMA_SAS) have *NOT* "reached a resolution with government on a "reasonable, fair pay settlement"