HMRC to tax pension transfer 'sweeteners'

In an announcement issued on its website, HMRC says it has recently been asked for advice by a number of different employers on the tax and NI position of inducement payments. It admits previous advice had been that as it was a complex area the tax treatment would depend on the facts of the case, but in certain circumstances inducement payments could be paid without either income tax or NI liability. But it says having taken additional legal advice it now believes “such inducement payments paid to encourage pension scheme members to give up future pension rights or to move from one pens...