Government amendments to the Finance Bill 2007 could encourage more people to make use of the annuity Open Market Option at retirement, says Standard Life.
The changes would re-introduce a common pre-A-Day practice for defined contribution schemes. This would allow providers to pay out the tax-free cash as soon as an individual retires so they have income to bridge the gap between their salary stopping and their pension starting. Since A-Day, a pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) or tax-free cash cannot be paid to a member before the scheme either starts pension payments or passes the funds onto the pension provider chosen through the OMO. This is because it would be treated as an unauthorised payment and attract a penal tax charge. Howe...
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