Budget bits

Published on Saturday 25 April 2009 15:27

The details you might have missed from the Budget:

Anti forestalling rules

These are firefighting measures aimed at preventing the well-paid from boosting their pensions ahead of the curtailment of higher rate relief in 2011.

Any significant change to your pension contribution will attract a tax relief clawback.

Block to salary sacrifice

Anyone facing 50% tax will not be able to avoid the higher levy by asking their employer to swap salary for extra pension contributions via salary sacrifice. As above, any change to their regular pension contributions pattern will incur a higher tax charge.

Those earning under 150,000 will still be able to use salary sacrifice to minimise their tax bill, at redundancy for example. However, the 150,000 test applies to any given year plus the previous two. So, if you have received unusually high earnings or an exceptional bonus two years ago, you will still be caught, even if in the relevant year you earn less than 150,000.

Pensions tax

For the first time, company pension contributions will be taxed like a benefit in kind, but only for higher earners. Anyone who lost money when their pension scheme collapsed and is receiving money from the Financial Assistance Scheme will receive the same tax treatment as if the money came straight from their company pension, to avoid over-taxation.