Proposed additional tax relief would encourage CIPP members to save more for a pension, according to survey

Nearly two-thirds of respondents to the CIPP survey welcomed the proposal announced by the current Pension’s Minister Steve Webb, which means for every £2 put into a pension, the government will put in £1.

The online survey was recently conducted by the CIPP - the Chartered Institution for payroll and pensions professionals in the UK - to more than 100 of its members.

In addition, some 44% of respondents said the measure would encourage them to retain their savings in their pension scheme.

Commenting on the findings, Karen Thomson, Associate Director of Policy, Research, and Strategic Visibility at the CIPP said:

“The introduction of automatic enrolment into a workplace pension scheme has brought a massive increase to the number of workers saving for retirement.

“Under the proposal, it appears it would certainly go along a way towards encouraging CIPP members to start thinking about saving for their pension as a matter of priority. Needless to say, we’re not surprised to see that people would be more likely to save for their pension if this additional tax relief were to become a reality.

“However the survey did also throw up some interesting results. There appears to be concern amongst higher rate taxpayers that this may reduce the tax relief they currently receive. It’s certainly a fair point and that is obviously something for the government to take note of, especially given that increasing numbers of workers are being brought into the higher rate tax bracket.”

For more information about the CIPP, head online to cipp.org.uk