The Pension Levy:
Ref: Tony Gilhawley Technical Guidance
Section 4 of Finance Bill (No 2) 2011, which provides for the pension levy, was significantly amended last month in Committee Stage in the Dail.
The main changes are:
The levy will now be an annual 0.6% levy payable on 25th September 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 by reference to the market value of a
scheme’s assets at the previous 30th June.
The levy does not apply to ARFs or vested PRSAs.
Filing and payment of the levy by 25th September each year must made by ‘electronic’ means as may be specified by Revenue.
- The life company is required to pay the levy in respect of all pension policies issued by it.
- Enhanced protection is now provided to scheme administrators and life companies to recover the levy, if they so wish, from the scheme’s assets.
- The administrator/life company is ‘entitled to dispose of or appropriate such assets of the scheme as are required to meet the amount of the duty so payable’ and ‘no action shall lie against the chargeable person in any court by reason of such disposal or appropriation’
- Where the chargeable person is not a trustee of the scheme, then the chargeable person and the trustees of the scheme are jointly and severely liable for the full tax liability. So the trustees can’t hide behind the administrator in relation to liability for the levy.
- Where the levy is paid by the administrator who is not the trustee, and recovered by the administrator disposing of scheme assets, ‘the trustees shall allow such disposal or appropriation’ and the chargeable person ‘shall be acquitted and discharged of any such disposal or appropriation as if the amount of duty had not been so paid’.
- However while the administrator or life company can recover the levy amount payable from the scheme assets, it does appear that this recovery facility does not extend to interest/penalties to which the administrator or life company become liable if they do not file and pay the levy due by the required 25th September deadline. This makes it all the more important to hit the 25th September annual pay and file deadline.
- Despite recent statements in the Dail by the Minister for Finance1 about the desirability of not passing on the levy to scheme members, in fact the amendments provide enhanced protection to life companies/ administrators to recover the tax by reducing member’s benefits:
- The legislation now allows the scheme trustees or life company, the option to reduce member’s benefits to the extent of the amount of levy recovered from the scheme’s assets, ‘notwithstanding any provision of the Pensions Act 1990, or of any other enactment..., or any rule of law, or anything contained in the rules of a scheme, or the terms and conditions of any contract’. Wow!
- However the option to reduce benefits (which happens automatically in Defined Contribution arrangements where the levy is recovered from the scheme assets) is restricted so that ‘the diminution in value of those benefits shall not exceed the amount disbursed from the assets attributable at the valuation date to the scheme’s liabilities in respect of that member.’
Contact Growth Investments for more information.
Email: richard.cotter@growthinv.ie
Pension changes :
There have been a number of changes in pensions over the last year and while some of the advantages have been cut slightly, the reality is that the attractiveness and need for pensions is as strong as ever.
The most important thing to remember about pensions is that if you want any kind of financial security when you retire, you simply have to put some money away now.
In the current financial situation, relying on the State pension is unlikely to be an option. The state funds public pensions through taxes such as income tax. So the more people working, the more the Government has to spend on state benefits such as pensions. Just take a look at the following diagrams.
A few years ago:
Number of people working Vs A single pensioner
2030:
Number of people working Vs A single pensioner
2050:
Number of people working Vs A single pensioner
(Source: Green Paper on Pensions)
This is going to put massive pressure on the public pension system, and we’re already seeing the results of that. The Government has announced that it is to increase the state pension age to 68 by 2028 and the reality is that, even if they can avoid cutting the state pension soon, it is quite likely that the amount will reduce in real terms over the coming years.
This means that planning a pension is really important and it explains why, even after the budget cuts, the Government continues to give such good incentives for people to contribute to their pension.
Removal of PRSI and Health Levy relief on pension contributions made by employees
Pension contributions generally receive income tax relief up to a percentage of your earnings. Employees also had the benefit of being able to claim PRSI and Health Levy relief on their pension contributions. This relief has now been removed.
However, employees who make a pension contribution before the 31st October 2011 and backdate it against the 2010 tax year will be able to avail of income tax, PRSI and health levy relief. PRSI and Health Levy relief has been removed for 2011 tax year onwards.
Even with the removal of PRSI and Health Levy relief a 41% income tax payer will still get €41 back in income tax relief for every €100 they invest. Similarly, a 20% tax payer will get €20 back in tax relief for every €100 they invest.
Their pension fund will grow tax free, meaning that their funds would grow at a higher rate than savings funds. Finally, they can access a portion of their funds tax free (usually a quarter). The rest will be taxed as an income and subject to income tax, PRSI and the Universal Social Charge which has replaced the Health and Income Levies.
Tax free lump sum is capped at €200,000
The maximum tax free pension lump sum that can be taken has been capped at €200,000. This includes all pension lump sums taken since 7 December 2005. The table below shows how pension lump sums are taxed.
Pension Lump Sum |
Tax Due |
First €200,000 |
Exempt |
Next €375,000 |
Standard rate income tax – currently 20% |
Balance |
Marginal rate income tax plus PRSI and USC |
As most pension holders can take a quarter of their fund as a pension lump sum this cap will generally only impact you if your fund is over €800,000. Even if you are lucky enough to have a fund of that size or more, you can still take the balance taxed at 20% up to a total of €575,000.
For example, as the diagram below shows, if you had a fund of €1 million, you could take €250,000 cash - €200,000 would be tax free and €50,000 would be taxed at 20% - meaning you just pay €10,000 tax or 4% of the cash amount.
Allowable income for tax relief purposes is capped at €115,000
The maximum pension contribution you can pay and receive tax relief is set as a percentage of your salary capped at €115,000 depending on your age as shown below.
For example, if you are 50 you can get income relief on pension contributions of 30% of salary - this is now capped at €34,500 (30% of €115,000 per year). In reality most people do not earn over €115,000 so this will not have any impact on them. However, even if you do earn over €115,000 this cap will not apply to any employer contributions to your company pension plan. If you have a PRSA plan this cap will apply to the total of your employee and employer contributions.
The total pension fund you can build is capped at €2.3 million.
For tax purposes the maximum pension fund you can build up is €2,300,000, this is called the Standard Fund Threshold (SFT). This is a lifetime limit and includes all pension benefits taken since 7 December 2005. At retirement if the value of your pension fund is greater than the SFT or your Personal Fund Threshold where applicable the excess will be liable to 41% tax before retirement benefits are paid. Pension income in retirement is subject to income tax, PRSI and Universal Social Charge.
Minimum withdrawals on ARFs increased to 5%
An Approved Retirement Fund or “ARF” is that it’s a fund you have after you retire that you can use to draw an income from. Even if you do not make a withdrawal from your ARF during the year you must pay tax as if you have taken a withdrawal of 5%, this amount may change in the future. This applies to all ARF holders from the year they turn 61.
If you take a regular withdrawal from your ARF, it’s possible that fund growth may be lower than expected and taking a regular withdrawal could reduce the capital you’ve invested.
The Pension Levy
The Government announced its Jobs Initiative on the 10 May 2011 which sets out measures intended to promote job creation. This initiative is to be financed by a 0.6 per cent levy on pension funds which aims to raise €470 million year for the four years from 2011 to 2014, or €1.88 billion in total.
The details of the pension levy are contained in the Finance (No 2) Act which was published on 19 May 2011 and signed into law by the President on the 22 June 2011.
The levy will apply to occupational pension schemes, personal retirement bond, PRSAs and personal pensions. The levy will be based on the market value of the assets on the 30 June each year from 2011 to 2014. The levy will not apply to Approved Retirement Funds, Approved Minimum Retirement Funds or PRSAs that are being used for ARF or AMRF purposes (vested PRSAs).
Working to maintain incentives on pensions
In the National Pensions Framework published in March 2010, there was a proposal to reduce income tax relief on pension contributions to 33%. We are hopeful of finding a solution that works for the Government and continues to provide a strong incentive for people to save for their retirement.
So in summary:
- You really need to review your own pension. Even if it’s just a small one, when added to the state pension currently €230.30 a week for a single person, it will make a difference
- Pensions remain a tax efficient way to build up money for retirement
- It is possible that income tax relief could reduce in the future, so it’s worthwhile considering how you can maximize how much you contribute to your pension now.
This article is meant to just give a broad overview of some of the main changes to pensions in the last year. If you need to review your pension plan, it’s important that you talk to us today
Contact Growth Investments for more information.
Email: richard.cotter@growthinv.ie
Pensions are a long term investment plan that can only be taken at retirement.
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