On 29 October we shared an article written by the Chief Executive on pension tax-free lump sums saying he would write to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and others in early November.
This letter was sent on 4 November – the same day as the Chancellor’s much-publicised Budget ‘Scene Setter’ speech.
Since then, multiple media sources have reported that the Chancellor has decided not to reduce the pension tax-free Lump Sum Allowance (LSA) level. Whilst we are encouraged by this, we are in no way complacent and do not regard this threat as having been eliminated yet; as our headline suggests this is not over until we know for sure on 26 November.
And should there be no change to the tax-free LSA level on Budget Day itself, our next objective will be to prevent this from becoming an annual round of uncertainty that undermines trust and confidence across the Armed Forces community. We feel the Government owes those serving and who have served that assurance.
We have made our case on behalf of the Armed Forces community and will report back as soon as the Budget is announced.
