The ISA warehouse: think tank's radical savings reforms

A radical overhaul of the pensions and savings system should include the creation of ‘an ISA warehouse’, a Centre for Policy Studies analyst has proposed. Michael Johnson, a research fellow and pensions analyst, has put forward the idea of a Workplace ISA and Lifetime ISA.These “could reside within an ISA warehouse, alongside other segregated ISA cells dedicated to specific saving purposes - Help to Buy, long-term care, and son on”.Mr Johnson said: “The ISA warehouse could become a universal, all-purpose savings vehicle to serve everyone from cradle to grave. Simplicity to the fore; and each ISA cell would have its own (tax-based) incentives and deterrents, to reflect prevailing policy objectives.“They would share a modest annual allowance, such as £8,000, subject to Treasury modelling confirmation. A smaller incentive, for example, could accommodate a higher annual allowance.”These ideas were set out in a new report called An ISA-Centric Savings World, published by the Centre for Policy Studies on Saturday.{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}The paper stated: “Employer contributions, taxed as employee income but eligible for the Treasury incentive, would be paid into a Workplace ISA, operating within the auto-enrolment arena.“Withdrawals would not be permitted until the age of 60, thereby trapping the incentive, along with income and net capital gains.“Thereafter, they would be, ideally, tax-free.“Auto-enrolled employee contributions, paid post-tax but attracting the Treasury incentive, would go into an employee’s Lifetime ISA.”The paper also introduced the idea of an ISA Pension, secured with Workplace ISA assets, from the age of 60.Mr Johnson criticised the current system of pension tax relief, arguing that it is “expensive, incompatible, inequitable, illogical, incomprehensible and, crucially, an ineffective use of Treasury funds”.

The ISA warehouse: think tank's radical savings reforms

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