HM Treasury

An unsecured pension holder aged over 50 but not yet 55 can purchase a lifetime annuity or scheme pension without incurring an unauthorised tax charge, the Treasury says.

The government has launched a public consultation on giving people under-55 early access to their pension.

UK - The government has announced it will introduce legislation in the Finance Bill 2011 to reduce the annual allowance from £255,000 ($402,000) to £50,000 and the lifetime allowance from £1.8m to £1.5m.

The government has today published details of the changes it intends to introduce to remove the effective requirement to annuities by age 75 from 6 April 2011.

The government is expected to announce draft pensions tax legislation tomorrow as part of the 2011 Finance Bill.

The government would be "ill advised" to alter the discount rate to calculate the amount public sector employees pay into unfunded pension schemes, the Trades Union Congress says.

The government will publish a formal response to its consultations on the Finance Bill 2011, including details on new pension annuitisation rules, on 9 December.

The Local Government Pension Scheme will become "unsustainable" following cuts outlined in last month's Comprehensive Spending Review, the GMB warns.

UK - The annual allowance will be cut from £255,000 ($408,000) to £50,000; the lifetime allowance reduced from £1.8m to £1.5m, and the factor for valuing final salary benefits increased from 10 to 16, the Treasury has announced.

HM Treasury will announce new pension taxation rules including the cap on the annual allowance tomorrow.