Beefing up auto-enrolment has to be a good thing. We’re under-pensioned and don’t save enough, as has often been trailed on these and other pages. If beefing-up means hiking what needs to be paid-in, the danger is that more will opt out unless their wages go up and mortgages and rent go down, a difficult circle to square; but hey, Kier and Rachel, that’s why you’re paid the big bucks. The lifetime allowance is another thing and adds, I’d say, a ridiculous amount of complexity to our system for little tax-reward. It is, ultimately, an idealogical anti-fat-cat measure and limiting reliefs on the way in would work better. All, of course, speculation, as we might still be stuck with Rishi, Jezza and Co., and Labour might not get around to any of it anyway. You can only plan on the basis of the known, I’ve always preached.
“Why most won’t need to worry about IHT on pensions”
Many a government has made the point that only a minority will be affected by this or that tax change or tinker. It is, however, both perception and aspiration which are important, and they are what makes IHT the ‘most hated’ of all taxes – along with all the others, of course.
