Pension Lifetime Allowance - How to stay within the limit to avoid a tax charge
Your employees and pension members that have been diligently saving into a pension throughout their working life are entitled to feel confident about their retirement. But, unfortunately, the best savers sometimes find themselves inadvertently breaching their pension lifetime allowance (LTA) and being charged an additional tax that erodes their savings.
Your high-earners or wealthy individuals could be putting too much into their lifetime pension and risk exceeding the pension lifetime allowance. The following questions and answers are intended to help your people avoid this tax charge.
Q: WHAT IS THE LIFETIME ALLOWANCE?
A: The LTA is a limit on the amount you can withdraw in pension benefits in your lifetime before you trigger an additional tax charge. By pension benefits, we mean money you receive from your pension in any form, whether that’s a lump sum, a flexible income, an annuity income or through any other method.
This allowance applies to your total pension savings, which may be in different pensions.
Q: HOW MUCH IS THE LIFETIME ALLOWANCE?
A: In the 2021/22 tax year, the LTA is £1,073,100. This allowance has now been frozen until April 2026.
Q: WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU EXCEED THE LIFETIME ALLOWANCE?
A: Once you have received your full LTA in pension benefits, you will be required to pay an additional tax charge on any further benefits you receive.
If you take your remaining benefits as a lump sum, you’ll pay a tax charge of 55%. If you take your remaining benefits as multiple withdrawals, you’ll pay a tax charge of 25% on each one.
Q: HOW IS THE USAGE OF YOUR LIFETIME ALLOWANCE MEASURED?
A: Each time you access your pension benefits (for example, by purchasing an annuity, receiving a lump sum or establishing a flexible income), this is recorded as a ‘benefit crystallisation event’.
There is an additional benefit crystallisation event when you turn 75, and finally, upon your death.
Q: IS LIFETIME ALLOWANCE PROTECTION AVAILABLE?
A: You can only protect your pension from the LTA if your savings were worth more than
£1 million on 5 April 2016. You may be able to protect your pension savings up to £1.25 million, or up to the value of your pension on that date, depending on the type of protection you have.
Q: IS IT POSSIBLE TO AVOID THE LIFETIME ALLOWANCE?
A: If you do not have LTA protection and you are approaching the limit, there are various actions you can consider. These include stopping your contributions (and, instead, investing your money into an alternative tax-efficient environment), changing your investment strategy or starting retirement earlier.
Q: WHEN SHOULD YOU SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE?
A: The rules around the LTA are very complex and making the right decisions can feel difficult. Receiving professional financial advice will help to identify if you have a problem and offer different solutions to consider, based on a full review of your unique circumstances.
Help your high earners avoid an unwanted tax charge.
Lifetime Allowances can be a tricky subject for your members to get their heads around. Nobody wants to be stung with an unexpected tax charge, especially when it could be avoided. These are often key people in your organisation and may not even know that they are at risk.
We are here to help you tackle this.
Download our guide to understanding & tackling Pension Allowances
Pension Allowances can be a tricky subject for your members to get their heads around. Nobody wants to be stung with an unexpected tax charge, especially when it could be avoided. Learn the rules and how to communicate them to your members.
A PENSION IS A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT NOT NORMALLY ACCESSIBLE UNTIL AGE 55 (57 FROM APRIL 2028). THE VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENTS (AND ANY INCOME FROM THEM) CAN GO DOWN AS WELL AS UP WHICH WOULD HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE LEVEL OF PENSION BENEFITS AVAILABLE. YOUR PENSION INCOME COULD ALSO BE AFFECTED BY THE INTEREST RATES AT THE TIME YOU TAKE YOUR BENEFITS.
THE TAX IMPLICATIONS OF PENSION WITHDRAWALS WILL BE BASED ON
YOUR INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, TAX LEGISLATION AND REGULATION WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE. YOU SHOULD SEEK ADVICE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR OPTIONS AT RETIREMENT.