Responding to the announcement on pension taxation reforms in this week’s Budget, Professor Michael Griffin OBE, President of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh said:
“We are glad that the government has listened to the medical professions and raised the threshold income to £200,000. This will remove most doctors from the effect of the taper meaning that the majority will now no longer be in the erroneous position where they are effectively paying to go to work, cutting their hours or turning down important additional work.
As medical and surgical professionals, we take pride in providing the best care for our patients and so are relieved that this anomaly has been addressed.
However, we still have concerns over how suited the annual allowance is to defined benefit schemes such as the NHS.
Many doctors have incomes far below the new threshold income, so will face tax bills if they are exceeding the standard annual allowance of £40,000. This could happen if their pensionable pay rises as a result of assuming a leadership role or being recognised for clinical excellence. Moreover as there is no change to the Lifetime Allowance, many doctors may still take early retirement.
We will continue to monitor this situation closely to see the impact the Chancellor’s changes will have.”