Protecting your lump sum cash
HMRC has announced a deadline extension to the ‘protection’ scheme which can safeguard the amount of tax-free lump sum available from your NHS pension. The lifetime allowance – which limited tax-free pensions savings – was officially abolished in April 2024. This means there is no longer a tax-charge on overall pensions’ savings in excess of […]
Budget leaks could force the wrong move
As ever before Budget statements, the media is doing its best to create headlines based on what could be announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves in November. Last year, the noise around potential changes to the tax-free lump sum amount caused a substantial increase in people accessing their pension pots earlier than planned. Figures published recently […]
Taking lump sums from your NHS pension
In April 2024, the government officially removed the lifetime allowance (LTA) which restricted overall pension savings, and replaced it with the lump sum allowance (LSA) and the lump sum and death benefit allowance (LSDBA). These limit the amount of tax-free cash that can be paid from pension schemes. If you wish to take your NHS […]
McCloud and your contingent decision
Did you opt out of the NHS Pension Scheme between April 2015 and March 2022? As part of the ‘McCloud remedy’ you might be able to ‘buy back’ the pension service you missed during this time. If you opted out of the pension scheme when the 2015 Scheme was introduced, you may have made a […]
New deadlines for ‘McCloud’ statements
Many doctors who are still waiting to receive their remediable pension service statements from NHS Pensions for 2022/23 could now have an even longer wait. The NHS Business Service Authority which is responsible for issuing the statements has released a new set of expected delivery dates – with the longest deadline cited as December 2026. […]
More mayhem for McCloud
The McCloud remedy has been causing concern for public sector workers since the term was first introduced into our regular language after the Court of Appeal ruling back in 2018. The latest issue has left many doctors still waiting to receive their remediable pension service statements from NHS Pensions for 2022/23 – they were due […]
Autumn Budget 2024: Pensions subject to inheritance tax
The chancellor has announced that inherited pensions will be subject to inheritance tax (IHT) from 2027. The current inheritance tax threshold will also be extended to 2030 (having been in place since 2009). The first £325,000 of an estate remains IHT free, increasing to £500,000 if the estate includes a residence passed to a direct […]
Received your McCloud figures: what now?
Many doctors should now have received their annual allowance statements containing the McCloud remedy recalculations. This will show the changes of your pension growth and therefore your annual allowance position, for the seven years of the McCloud ‘remedy period’ from 2015 to 2022. But what should you do now? Firstly, it is very important to […]