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\t\tKeir Starmer has refused to rule out a pension tax raid. \t<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Keir Starmer shied away from ruling out a pensions tax raid at the Autumn Budget despite top researchers\u2019 calls for the government to refrain from adding ever-higher cost burdens on Britons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Keir Starmer has faced repeated questions about several taxes being introduced later this year given City estimates that as much as \u00a324bn extra will have to be raised to cover expenditure for the next five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During Prime Minister\u2019s Questions on Wednesday, Starmer stuck firmly<\/a> to the government\u2019s line on refusing to comment on Budget plans. <\/p>\n He blamed the previous Conservative government for its poor record on the UK economy in response to opposition leader Kemi Badenoch<\/a>\u2019s prompts about taxes on pension contributions, which could take place if the government reduces the current 40 per cent rate of tax relief for higher earners.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe made absolutely clear manifesto commitments which she asked me about last week and we\u2019re keeping to it: I\u2019m not going to write the budget months out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m proud of the decisions that we took to invest in our NHS, to invest in our public services, all the decisions that they opposed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no wonder that after a first year of a Labour government, business confidence is [at] a nine-year high\u201d he added, referring to a recent business survey by Lloyds seen as something of an outlier among surveys that tend to show a significant slump in corporate optimism. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what\u2019s bad for growth: 14 years of a Tory government \u2013 stagnant growth for 14 years.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tKeir Starmer refuses to rule out \u00a340bn tax raid\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \tPensions tax alternatives offered<\/p>\n Starmer\u2019s latest refusal to comment on taxes follows the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)<\/a> chief Richard Hughes\u2019 warning that the UK could not afford to see the tax burden grow further as it was already at record highs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt needs to bear in mind that higher and higher levels of taxes are also not good for growth,\u201d Hughes told MPs on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Top researchers are also now scrutinising tax changes announced at the last Autumn Budget, fearing the inclusion of inheritance tax on pensions could fail to work as intended.\u00a0<\/p>\n Researchers at Oxford Economics, backed by The Investing and Saving Alliance and firms including AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown, urged the government to add a standalone flat rate on unused pension funds over a certain threshold.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their report on \u201csimpler alternatives\u201d to taxing unused pension wealth also urges the government to allow people whose deceased family member\u2019s pension pots add up to less than \u00a390,000 to pay no tax on the sum.<\/p>\n Economic modelling suggests the government would raise the same level of revenue without creating \u201cdelays for grieving families\u201d and affecting \u201cbehavioural change among consumers that we don\u2019t fully understand\u201d, according to TISA head of retirement Renny Biggins.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tom Selby, director of public policy at AJ Bell<\/a> said current measures in place were \u201carguably the most complex, time-consuming way\u201d of raising cash.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other ways the government could tax workers and save more include lowering the pensions annual allowance from \u00a360,000 and lowering limits for tax-free cash from pensions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n