Revenue acts on pensions tax loophole

The news comes on the back of five further draft regulations published by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - formerly the Inland Revenue - regarding pension simplification. Standard Life says when the new tax simplification rules were enacted under the Finance Act 2004, a loophole meant pre-1987 members of occupational pension schemes were eligible for more tax-free cash. Pre-1987 members of occupational pension schemes can take their maximum tax-free cash of up to one-and-a-half times their final earnings, and defer taking their pension benefits, while post-1987 members must th...