Is Gordon Brown planning another pension stealth tax?
Experts in the pension field have today highlighted a passing comment by Gordon Brown in yesterday's party leaders debate. He spoke about restructuring pension tax relief for those earning in excess of £100,000 a year in the UK when the tax reliefs in question are currently available to those earning up to £130,000 a year. As a consequence, it is believed that an additional 300,000 people in the UK will suffer a loss of tax incentives on their pension fund arrangements.
While there has been no confirmation as yet regarding this apparent slip by Gordon Brown, one thing is for certain, we will see the introduction of more taxes in the UK in the short to medium term. It will depend on which political party is in power as to which areas of the UK population are targeted. However, as the UK is currently facing a pension fund time bomb, with state pension funding under pressure, there is concern that many people will struggle to fund their later years of life.
When you also consider the massive increase in liabilities for UK taxpayers with regards to public sector pensions, there is no doubt that the UK pension sector is in need of a major revamp in the short term.
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