With a series of major pension changes coming into force on 6th April 2011, some new research suggests that many wealthy individuals are unaware of the proposed rules.
Research from HSBC found that 35% of people are not worried about the new tax changes.
Perhaps more worryingly, the research found that 39% of high income earners claim changes do not affect them.
On 6th April, the annual allowance for tax relievable pension contributions is falling from £255,000 to £50,000.
At the same time, the current anti-forestalling measures which are restricting pension contributions for many higher earners to between £20,000 and £30,000 are being removed.
There are some interesting planning opportunities between now and 6th April 2011 as a result of these changes, with the timing of pension input periods having more of an impact on the allowable contribution limit than the tax year in which the pension contribution is actually made.
With higher earners being hit from all directions by the 50% tax rate and removal of personal allowance on earnings over £100,000, and the continuing importance of making individual provision for retirement, these pension changes for the 2011/12 tax year are important to understand.
Photo credit: Flickr/acearchie
