Hospitals: Consultants

(asked on 12th July 2019) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of change the level of tax for NHS consultants working overtime.


Answered by
Elizabeth Truss Portrait
Elizabeth Truss
This question was answered on 19th July 2019

The Government keeps public sector pay and pensions policy under constant review in the context of the wider public finances. The same tax rules must apply identically to everyone in the same situation, regardless of their employer.

Pensions tax relief is one of the most expensive reliefs in the personal tax system. In 2017/18 income tax and employer National Insurance Contributions relief cost over £50 billion, with around two-thirds going to higher and additional rate taxpayers.

The Government has listened carefully to specific concerns raised by some high-earning NHS consultants impacted by annual allowance tax charges.

In response, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced his intention to consult on proposals for a new 50:50 option providing pension flexibility for senior clinicians in the NHS. This flexibility will give senior clinicians in England and Wales more choice in respect of their pension accrual, and therefore the ability to control better any pensions tax charges.

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