Annuity reform brings taxing times

Annuity reform has been high on the agenda for some time now and, in December, the Treasury published draft rules for how it should be structured. Much of the detail was already well known to the industry, which was primarily waiting for details of what the minimum income requirement would be for those who choose to take the flexible income drawdown option. There was also some hope the government may decide to revisit its previous standpoint of raising tax for those who die in income drawdown from 35% to 55%. However, on the whole, the proposals put forward on annuity reform had been largel...