Government overtaxes pensioners further £30m in Q4 2018

£400m overpaid since 2015

Hannah Godfrey
clock • 1 min read

The government has returned some £30m to savers who were overtaxed on pension freedom withdrawals during the final three months of 2018, according to the latest data from the taxman.

Since the introduction of the pension freedoms in April 2015, more than £400m has been overpaid in tax and since reclaimed. The average amount reclaimed is £2,312. AJ Bell senior analyst Tom Selby said the overtaxing had gone on for four years, arguing HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) "steadfastly refuses" properly to review its approach. "HMRC's insistence on applying emergency tax to hard-working savers' first pension freedoms withdrawals continues to harm those who access their own money flexibly," he added. "What these figures do not capture is those who don't fill out the forms. Gi...

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