A petition is calling on the Chancellor to introduce a Pension Tax Lock to protect retirement savings.
AJ Bell, who launched the petition, said:
“We believe this simple commitment could put an end to the speculation seen ahead of every Budget – speculation which we think erodes confidence in long-term saving and can all too often lead to people making poor, sometimes irreversible, financial decisions.
We think this would come at zero cost to the Exchequer and would allow people to save for retirement with more confidence. We feel it could support the government’s twin aims of delivering pensions adequacy and boosting economic growth.”
Our members and followers will know that we have consistently challenged the Government on any reduction to the tax-free Lump Sum Allowance (LSA).
Last year our Chief Executive wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury highlighting that:
“Many of our serving members have contacted us recently expressing their extreme concern over the impact any changes to the pension Lump Sum Allowance level would have on their promised Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) benefits, a key element of which is their tax-free lump sum on departure from the Armed Forces and transition to the civilian workforce.“
“As a government that has openly stated its desire to ‘reconnect’ the Nation with its Armed Forces and put the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law, I cannot think of a budgetary measure more ‘counter Covenant’ than one that could significantly reduce the pension payments military people receive when they complete their service over the coming months and years.“
We continue to stand firmly against any cuts to the LSA and fully support this call for action. We urge you to do the same.
