Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that employers and workers are told that net pay arrangement pension schemes may be unsuitable for workers who earn below the personal tax threshold, and that they face paying more than 20 per cent extra for their pension than if they were in a relief at source scheme.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government has regular discussions with the Pensions Regulator on a range of issues, including workplace pensions.
Workplace pension schemes are chosen by employers and the Pensions Regulator (TPR) provides guidance on this in relation to automatic enrolment. The 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. It also points out that some schemes that use the net pay arrangement may have lower charges than schemes that operate relief at source.
All employers, including public sector employers, are expected to follow TPR’s guidance about providing their employees with relevant information on the arrangements for tax relief.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the challenges faced by low earners whose employers use a net pay arrangement pension scheme which denies them the tax relief they would receive in a relief at source scheme.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Tax relief is granted on contributions to all registered pension schemes, including workplace pensions. This relief can be provided for through two mechanisms: net pay or relief at source.
Where a scheme operates the net pay mechanism, contributions are deducted from pay before any tax is applied. This approach applies to all members of the scheme including those earning (1) between £10,000 and £11,000 a year from their employer, and (2) below £10,000 a year from one or more employers. The pension provision would depend on these contributions as well as those made by the employer.
The Government appreciates the impacts on low paid workers whose employers use a net pay arrangement pension scheme. However, it has not been possible to identify any straightforward or proportionate means to align the effects of the net pay and relief at source mechanisms more closely for this population.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the effect on the pension provision for low-paid workers earning (1) between £10,000 and £11,000 a year from their employer, and (2) below £10,000 a year from one or more employers, of being put into a defined contribution workplace pension scheme which operates on a net pay basis.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Tax relief is granted on contributions to all registered pension schemes, including workplace pensions. This relief can be provided for through two mechanisms: net pay or relief at source.
Where a scheme operates the net pay mechanism, contributions are deducted from pay before any tax is applied. This approach applies to all members of the scheme including those earning (1) between £10,000 and £11,000 a year from their employer, and (2) below £10,000 a year from one or more employers. The pension provision would depend on these contributions as well as those made by the employer.
The Government appreciates the impacts on low paid workers whose employers use a net pay arrangement pension scheme. However, it has not been possible to identify any straightforward or proportionate means to align the effects of the net pay and relief at source mechanisms more closely for this population.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 19 September 2016 (HL1586, HL1587 and HL1757), Lord Freud on 15 September 2016 (HL1588), and Lord Young of Cookham on 25 October 2016 (HL2186), what analysis they have undertaken to identify how many employees are saving into a workplace pension which denies them tax relief.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Tax relief is granted on contributions to all registered pension schemes, including workplace pensions. This relief can be provided for through two mechanisms: net pay or relief at source.
Where a scheme operates the net pay mechanism, contributions are deducted from pay before any tax is applied. This approach applies to all members of the scheme including those earning (1) between £10,000 and £11,000 a year from their employer, and (2) below £10,000 a year from one or more employers. The pension provision would depend on these contributions as well as those made by the employer.
The Government appreciates the impacts on low paid workers whose employers use a net pay arrangement pension scheme. However, it has not been possible to identify any straightforward or proportionate means to align the effects of the net pay and relief at source mechanisms more closely for this population.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to assess the number of people earning less than £11,000 a year who are auto-enrolled or paying into net pay arrangement workplace pension schemes.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
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.
The Government’s latest analysis of the eligibility of workers for automatic enrolment was published on 13 October 2016 in ‘Workplace Pensions: Update of analysis on Automatic Enrolment’. Information on age and earnings breakdowns for all workers can be found in table 3a on page 6, and is available in the report titled: Workplace pensions: Update of Analysis on Automatic Enrolment 2016, which is available on the gov.uk website.
The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not therefore hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that workers who are contributing to a workplace pension, and who earn less than £11,000 a year, are able to receive the government contribution to their pension for which they are eligible; and what action they are taking to ensure that such earners are not disadvantaged by losing out on the 25 per cent top-up to which they are entitled.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
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.
The Government’s latest analysis of the eligibility of workers for automatic enrolment was published on 13 October 2016 in ‘Workplace Pensions: Update of analysis on Automatic Enrolment’. Information on age and earnings breakdowns for all workers can be found in table 3a on page 6, and is available in the report titled: Workplace pensions: Update of Analysis on Automatic Enrolment 2016, which is available on the gov.uk website.
The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not therefore hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to ensure that (1) employers, and (2) employees earning under £11,000 a year, understand the consequences of using a net pay arrangement on entitlement to tax relief.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
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.
The Government’s latest analysis of the eligibility of workers for automatic enrolment was published on 13 October 2016 in ‘Workplace Pensions: Update of analysis on Automatic Enrolment’. Information on age and earnings breakdowns for all workers can be found in table 3a on page 6, and is available in the report titled: Workplace pensions: Update of Analysis on Automatic Enrolment 2016, which is available on the gov.uk website.
The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not therefore hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of employers using net-pay pension schemes that are unaware that their workers who earn less than £11,000 a year are unable to receive the tax relief they could receive in a relief-at-source scheme.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not therefore hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.
However, 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.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of workers who earn under £11,000 a year and are contributing to net-pay pension schemes.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not therefore hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.
However, 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.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many workers earning below the personal tax threshold were paying into net-pay pension schemes in (1) 2010–11, (2) 2011–12, (3) 2012–13, (4) 2013–14, (5) 2014–15, (6) 2015–16 and (7) 2016–17 to date.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government does not collect data on the number of workers earning less than the personal allowance who are also members of pension schemes that operate a net pay system. The Government does not hold employee level data on employees enrolled in net pay pension schemes, as such schemes are not obliged to report pension contributions to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government does not therefore hold information on the value of tax reliefs paid out to employees in net pay schemes.
However, 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.