Autumn Statement Announcements
Thursday 26 November, 2015
Basic State pension – The basic state pension will be increased by the triple lock in April 2016 to £119.30 per week.
New state pension – The Chancellor announced that the starting rate for the new single-tier state pension that will begin April 2016 will be £155.65, this is 5p above the level of the pension credit guarantee.
Automatic Enrolment & workplace pensions – The next two scheduled increases in automatic enrolment minimum contribution rates will be delayed by 6 months each. This is to allow the changes to be aligned with the start of the tax year. Previously minimum contributions were expected to rise by 1% from the employer, 1% from the employee of qualifying earnings to 2/3% from October 2017 and to 3/5% after October 2018. Now from April 2018 and 2019 it will rise to 5% and 8% respectively.
Pensions Tax Relief – The Government announced that their response to the pension tax relief consultation will be announced in next year’s budget.
Simon Hawker, Managing Director Lonsdale Services said: ‘In this statement there was a possibility that the Chancellor would prevent high income earners who will be affected by the reduction in the annual allowance next April from increasing their pension contributions before the reduction is introduced. As no changes were announced we recommend that anyone affected by the reduction should review their pension contribution before the new tax year.’
"The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice and some elements of automatic enrolment."
