Chancellor Phillip Hammond resisted the urge to tweak Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) and Pensions Tax Relief in this month’s budget following successful lobbying by the insurance industry.
After arguing for no further increases in Insurance Premium Tax and stability for pension savers, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) is pleased with the outcome of the Budget.
Director General of the ABI, Huw Evans, said: “Not raising IPT further was the right decision by Philip Hammond and reflects the much higher profile the insurance industry has successfully given to this stealth tax. But the pressures on the public purse are not going away so we need to keep up the pressure to protect customers from further increases in future budgets.”
On Pensions Tax Relief, Huw commented: “No further tweaking of pension tax relief provides some welcome stability for pension savers after the salami slicing of recent years. There are still strong arguments for a fundamental overhaul of pension tax relief to make it fairer and more sustainable but it is the right decision by the Chancellor not to be tempted by piecemeal changes.”
