CIPP Survey - The Net Pay Anomaly: Call for evidence on pensions tax relief administration
09 September 2020
To support the CIPP’s response to the net pay anomaly: Call for evidence on pensions tax relief administration, the policy team have produced a survey to gain your views on the proposed methods to tackle this issue.
The auto-enrolment threshold is for earnings above £10,000, but the current basic tax threshold is £12,500, therefore, anybody who is earning between £10,000 and £12,500, and in a net pay arrangement pension scheme will have a full pension deduction taken from their pay, but will not receive any tax benefit on this contribution as they have not earned enough to attract tax on their earnings. If they were in a relief at source arrangement, they would only have 80% of the contribution taken from their net pay, which would then be topped up with 20% from HMRC and they would therefore enjoy the benefit of tax relief.
Employees who do not earn £10,000 or above to meet the threshold for auto-enrolment but can ask to be added into a pension will also be affected. This is also true for individuals who don’t reach the threshold, but in some pay periods experience a pay spike, e.g. they receive a bonus. If this pay spike pushes them into the £10,000 earnings bracket for that pay period and there are further spikes in subsequent pay periods, then contributions will be taken in line with auto-enrolment legislation but, again, there will be no tax benefit to the employee if they have not have earned enough for tax deductions to be taken.
On the other hand, in a relief at source arrangement, employees who are earning within the higher and additional tax brackets only receive a 20% top up to their pension pots from HMRC through payroll, as opposed to the 40% and 45% they are entitled to (21%, 41% or 46% in Scotland). In order to receive the extra relief due to them, these individuals need to complete a self-assessment tax return.
Many of those affected by this may not be aware of the processes they need to follow to receive the relief or may not be aware of the additional entitlement at all. Although, in an unusual twist, Scottish taxpayers on the starter rate of 19% also receive the 20% top up.
The government is concerned about the potential for a low-earning individual’s take-home pay to be affected by the method of pensions tax relief operated by their pension scheme, and is keen to explore this issue further to understand what deliverable options for change may exist. This call for evidence seeks to gather evidence on the operation of both main methods of administering pensions tax relief and what improvements might be made.
Throughout the survey, we will concentrate on the two main ways that an individual receives income tax relief when saving some of their earnings into a pension. We look to cover the methods proposed to tackle the anomaly, and seek feedback from the payroll profession as to which method you believe would be most suited to tackle the anomaly and how each proposed method would affect your pension administration processes.
The policy team appreciate how busy payrollers are at present, therefore, we really appreciate your feedback on this important issue. To have your say, please complete our survey which takes around 20 minutes to complete by clicking here.
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