Occupational Pensions: Tax Allowances

(asked on 17th October 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimates they have made of the (1) number, and (2) gender breakdown, of workers earning below the personal tax threshold who have been automatically enrolled into a net pay workplace pension scheme.


Answered by
Baroness Buscombe Portrait
Baroness Buscombe
This question was answered on 31st October 2018

Automatic enrolment has reversed the decline in workplace pension saving. Latest figures show that more than 9.9 million people have been automatically enrolled; with participation amongst eligible women in the private sector increasing, from 40 per cent in 2012 to 80 per cent in 2017, to equal the rate for men. By 2019/20 an extra £20 billion a year is estimated to go into workplace pensions as a result of these reforms.

Automatic enrolment requires the sponsoring employer to put in place a qualifying workplace pension scheme for their affected workers. The Pensions Regulator provides guidance to employers on choosing a pension scheme for their staff in order to discharge their statutory obligations under automatic enrolment. This guidance covers the choice between net pay and relief at source schemes, and the implications of net pay schemes for employees who do not pay tax.

Government does not collect data about whether net pay arrangements or relief at source pension schemes are used by employers to comply with their automatic enrolment duties.

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