OAPs tax attack warning

PENSIONERS are being warned not to make hasty moves with their retirement pots in a bid to sidestep another inheritance tax (IHT) raid by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

- By Harvey Jones

Last year, Reeves announced she will slap IHT on unused pension pots from 2027. But speculation is growing that she will come back for more in this year’s autumn Budget with a lifetime cap on gifts, an attack on the seven-year rule on IHT-free transfers and making gifts from surplus income.

Yet taxpayers are fighting back.

Wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin has reported a spike in clients taking extra taxable income from their pensions to beat the tax grab.

This trend is backed by HMRC figures which show that in the first three months of this year, 672,000 people took flexible withdrawals totalling £5billion, up 24% in a year.