"The rules also affect some of my sole trader and partnership business owners where profitability and therefore drawings can be difficult to predict.”
David Fairs, actuary and pensions partner at KPMG, said: “In my early days as chairman of the Association of Consulting Actuaries I offered (then chancellor) George Osborne £1,000 if he could correctly work out someone's annual allowance and lifetime allowance charge – I feel increasingly secure that the money will never be claimed.”
Alan Lakey, director of Highclere Financial Services, agreed the calculation is tricky.
He said: “A few years back we had supposed pension simplification but this was an oxymoron. In a world where advisers have a moral duty to assist society by encouraging the take-up of pension plans we are beset by rules, ambiguities and obfuscation. A real horror story.”
stephanie.hawthorne@ft.com
