More changes to pensions in Autumn Statement?

The Chancellor's Autumn Statement could herald further announcements about changes to pensions, annuities and the death tax this afternoon. George Osborne will deliver the statement today at 12.30pm in the House of Commons. He will update MPs on growth and borrowing forecasts and outline planned tax and spending measures, with just six months to go before the general election.In recent years, Mr Osborne has used the occasion to make announcements on energy, welfare and pensions. {desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}Kate Smith, regulatory strategy manager at Aegon, said: "In the spring we saw rigid pension rules thaw, promising greater flexibility and freedom for people at retirement from next April."Inflexible annuities were the big losers at the Budget but at the Autumn Statement, early reports suggest the Chancellor will announce further changes to how dependant's retirement income is taxed."If early reports are correct, the income tax won't be payable on the dependant's annuity if the policyholder dies before 75 and the first payment is made after 5 April 2015. This will bring annuities in line with changes announced recently to drawdown."While these changes will be welcome news to some, it is unlikely to change people's perception of the product. Consumer opinion has turned against annuities and yet Aegon's UK Readiness Report found that 70% of people still want some form of guaranteed income in retirement."Income tax relief on pension contributions could be the next big topic, she added. But this is more likely to occur after the election, Ms Smith believes.Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "It is still possible the government will revisit the tax treatment of pension contributions, perhaps curbing the tax relief for higher earners or further reducing the Annual Allowance."It is impossible to rule this out, not least because it appears the Government's tax receipts are below expectations, leaving the Chancellor searching around for alternative ways to help balance the books."The last revision to the Annual Allowance, bringing it down from £50,000 to £40,000 was estimated to affect 140,000 investors. We would expect the impact of any further reduction to be felt far more widely." There will be more on the statement here later today and also via Twitter (FPM_Online). You can also follow us on Twitter @SippsPro or Editor Kevin O'Donnell - @FPM_Kevin or staff writer James Nadal - @FPM_James.

More changes to pensions in Autumn Statement?

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