Boris Johnson will create pension tax relief 'losers' with mooted income tax reforms

£80,000 threshold

clock • 1 min read

Boris Johnson's mooted income tax reforms would create a double-edged sword whereby income tax winners would become pension tax relief losers, according to research by Aegon.

Prior to his appointment as prime minister, Johnson proposed increasing the higher-rate tax threshold from £50,000 to £80,000, meaning those earning within this wage would be ‘winners' by not paying as much income tax. However, Aegon revealed pension savers earning within this range would also lose their higher-rate pension tax relief, leaving them receiving basic rate relief instead. The firm noted that, if savers decided to reduce their pension contributions in order to keep tax charges unchanged, they could then face a 25% comparative drop in the value of their pension pot when the...

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