Following the abolition of the lifetime allowance and how that will impact doctors in the NHS, Graham Crossley, NHS pensions expert at Quilter has commented.
He said: “Following the huge news that the lifetime allowance is set to be scrapped, we are urging senior doctors about to retire with LTA charges to consider delaying their retirement date until after April 6th so that they can avoid eyewatering lifetime allowance tax charges.
“A freedom of information request submitted last year showed that April 2022 saw a record number of pension benefits being awarded to NHS staff, indicating a significant jump in those retiring. This is due to a combination of many feeling undervalued due to punitive pension taxation and that the end of the tax year is often when people choose to retire. This number is likely to be similarly large this year due to the same pressures.
“However, after today’s bombshell pension announcements waiting less than a month could help them save someone considerable sums in tax if they have fallen foul of the lifetime allowance. We urge the NHSBSA following today’s announcements to contact any members about to retire with lifetime allowance issues and warn them to delay.
“While there is still work to do, the changes in the budget represent a huge win for the industry which has lobbied government for a long time that systemic issues with pension taxation was causing huge problems for the health service. However, it is so important that those who can still take advantage of the announcements change their plans slightly and take advantage of a much more favourable tax landscape for the NHS.“
