Osborne cuts pensions tax relief to £40k; raises drawdown limit

The decision to reduce the annual allowance by a further £10,000 comes only two years after Osborne slashed the allowance from £255,000 to £50,000. The government estimates today's annual allowance reduction to £40,000, from 2014/15, will save the Treasury £600m a year. He also confirmed the lifetime allowance would be reduced from £1.5m to £1.25m. There had been some speculation that a deeper cut to £30,000 - which insurer Standard Life had said would save the Treasury £1.8bn - was also on the cards. Treasury documents, released after the chancellor's statement said the measure...