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Tax Year-End: Capped Drawdown plans have one big advantage over their Flexible new friends, but will disappear April 5th 2015

In all the hype over the new pensions rules and flexibility beginning next April, it is easy to miss the rules concerning contribution allowances whilst in drawdown.

There can be reasons and/or advantages to an individual in running a drawdown arrangement and taking income from it whilst simultaneously making contributions (or keeping the option to make future contributions). Care needs to be taken not to fall foul of rules prohibiting the recycling of tax-free cash.

Existing capped drawdown plans which are maintained within their GAD withdrawal limits will retain the annual allowance for further contributions of £40,000, whereas an active flexible plan will have a reduced allowance of £10,000 after April 5th 2015. However, capped Drawdown will no longer be an option after April 2015, when all new drawdown plans will qualify as “flexible” regardless of withdrawal levels. After April 5th, as soon as a “trigger” event occurs, such as taking income or cashing in a small pension in its entirety, the new reduced annual allowance of £10,000 applies.

So, investors wishing to carry on an active drawdown arrangement yet take advantage of the £40,000 contributions limit in future, who do not currently have such a plan,  would need to quickly set up a plan (and make a crystallisation event – e.g. a small withdrawal of tax free cash) prior to April 2015, to be able keep that greater level of annual contribution allowance.

To maintain the £40,000 limit going forward, capped drawdown members must not exceed their GAD income limits in any tax year. To do so creates an event which triggers the smaller contributions allowance going forward.

This is an area where financial advice is essential – in fact drawdown plan providers will generally only deal with you through an adviser(!)

Most new drawdown plans are initiated via a transfer of existing pension money from one or more other pension plans, but in view of the rapidly closing window (realistically you’d need to get a new application in by around March 20th at the very latest),  for a capped plan I would suggest the time for that is already past. However, if you have a reasonable cash lump sum which you can contribute now, then it may still be possible to find a capped drawdown provider and set the account up with instant crystallisation.

NB the above is a brief summary only – we will advise on pertinent rules as appropriate. If you think this sounds suitable for you, we’re happy to advise further – just give us a call on 0345 013 6525 to discuss.

Income Withdrawal – What’s the low-down on Drawdown?

This post deals with a few of the key points concerning drawdown contracts. A more complete analysis of drawdown vs. annuities can be found in the Honister booklet available at this link.

A recent change in the rules has allowed people to enjoy a new option: “flexible drawdown” which allows pensioners to have complete flexibility over the sums they withdraw from their drawdown contract (subject to normal income tax), provided that they can pass a new minimum income requirement (“MIR”) of £20,000 per annum from other means. So, provided that you can prove to the Revenue that you have at least £20,000 of secure annual income p.a. in retirement from alternative sources, such as a final salary pension scheme or other annuities, you may withdraw as much as you wish from your flexible drawdown plan.

The flexible drawdown MIR is a one-off test, and once it has been satisfied you do not have to prove your income again in later years.

This contrasts, however, with another amendment in regulations which serves to reduce the maximum annual sums others may withdraw from their contracts, (i.e. those who cannot meet the new MIR statement of income from other means and so are presumably more dependent on their drawdown plans). They could previously withdraw up to 120% of the government actuarial department (GAD) prescribed limit, but this has now been reduced to 100% (in simple terms, the GAD limit is close to the £ amount that one might receive from a level single life annuity). This reduced GAD limit will apply from the next review of an existing drawdown plan.

One of the things that people forget about drawdown plans is that they may be converted into an annuity at any time. So if nothing else, they can be used to defer annuity purchase, especially for younger pensioners. But perhaps their greatest advantage over annuities is that after the death of the policyholder, a surviving spouse or dependent relative may simply take over the plan and continue to run it, without any special tax charge relating to the takeover. Thus the spouse / dependent relative (who will still be subject to income tax on the income), enjoys the benefit of the plan and may themselves convert it into an annuity for themselves in the future.

This is only a snapshot covering a few key issues. Give me a call on 0845 013 6525 and I’ll be happy to discuss drawdown and annuities in the context of your own retirement planning objectives.