Charlotte Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-04-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of men and women who make use of the non-earnings pension contribution limit; and if he will assess the potential effects of increasing that limit on couples saving together for retirement.

Mr David Gauke

As shown in HMRC’s published statistics (Table PEN3 available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259967/pen3.pdf), in 2011-12 around 20,000 unemployed adults made or received contributions into their personal pensions. 6,000 of these individuals made use of the non-earnings pension contribution limit of £3,600 including basic rate tax relief.

A further 10,000 children, 10,000 individuals in full time education and 10,000 carers made or received contributions into their personal pensions. Of these, around a quarter made use of the non-earnings pension contribution limit.

Of the individuals mentioned above who made use of the non-earnings pension contribution limit in 2011-12, around two thirds were female.

The Government has made no assessment of the effects of increasing the limit on couples saving together for retirement but keeps all tax policies under review.