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/ THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Whilst I'm grateful for the changes to LTA/AA, the AA and the dreaded #taper still remain. And here's your regular reminder why its PARTICULARLY unfair, and stupid, in the NHS (from @BMA_Pensions @TheBMA evidence to DDRB).
Short 🧵pls read & share
2/ We are all in CARE now, so should all be paying generally the same employEE contributions.
But we aren't - and its worst - by a garden mile - in the NHS per this chart showing the ratio of conts from the highest earners : lowest earners in the public sector 👇
3/ So unlike in the private sector where there is no difference in cost for higher vs lower owners other than tax relief, we go through this ridiculously unfair step in the NHS - far worse than anywhere in the public sector - that strips away our higher rate relief
1/ very important and NEW: @nhs_pensions have overnight issues guidance on 23/24 tax year where they have failed to send you a pensions savings statement on time (which was their legal duty)
2/ the bottom line is they expect you ESTIMATE your carry forward and PIA and any charge in the normal timescale ie by Jan 31st 2025 …. Which is going to be extremely difficult …..
3/ after you estimate you will have until Jan 26 to correct your estimation based on the real figures
1/ Well after intense media speculation re: budget (speculation incl. reduction of tax free lump sum to £100k; flat rate relief at 30 or 20%; lifetime allowance re-introduction & pension "flexibility" [i.e. balance between pay & pension] .. speculation can now END....
Pls RT 🧵
2/ Its now time for @RachelReevesMP to deliver her first budget ... I'll be live tweeting anything significant with a focus on #pensions and #pensiontax (if there is indeed anything!)
So keep following! Appologies for any typos/errors read to end for any corrections & docs
3/ So following #PMQs there is a statement that the contents of some of the budget has been made public before the budget and expresses dissapointment that this has happened
1/ Longtime followers may remember this update from 4.5 years ago. Id met the then head of @nhs_pensions and the senior leadership team. They made lots of promises to improve things around Annual Allowance that BADLY needed improvement....
2/ Chief among those promises was to have an end to waiting till October for a PSS. Indeed no more brown envelopes. 85% of people would get their "digital brown envelope" by June (starting in 2020) 👇
3/ And furthermore for those that dont get automatic PSS (then around 85%), 15% would be able to see in this portal, from June 2020 why they DONT have a PSS i.e. you need manual calculations, or they cant issue one as they are awaiting info from employer
1/ ICYMI Ive done a couple of videos 📹 on the tapered annual allowance - and why it could be hugely problematic for higher earners in the NHS *THIS* tax year (24/25)
Its crucial you have an understanding of chart 👇 if you are in affected groups.
Please share 👇/ RT & 👀📹
2/ This was the first of two videos introducing the problem via a real case study
I discuss why its crucial that @wesstreeting @jamesmurray_ldn get an urgent grip of the dreadful tax policies they inherited affecting lower and higher earning consultants