HMRC reveals 79% rise in people breaching annual allowance limit

FOI request by Royal London

Julian Marr
clock • 2 min read

The number of people reporting they had breached the annual allowance limit for pension tax relief rose by almost four-fifths (79%) between 2012/13 and 2014/15 - the latest year for which such figures are available.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request tabled by Royal London to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) revealed that in 2014/15, when the annual allowance was £40,000, some 7,000 people reported on their tax return they had saved more than the limit. This compares with 3,900 people in 2012/13 when the limit stood at £50,000. Royal London policy director Steve Webb (pictured) said: "Pension tax relief has been squeezed year after year, and these new figures reveal a big growth in the numbers paying a tax penalty for being over the annual allowance limit." He added: "With a big cut in annual allowan...

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