Budget crushes salary sacrifice in a blow to pension savers, what will it cost

Pension savers were dealt a blow in the Budget as contributions under popular salary sacrifice schemes were capped at £2,000 each year.

The raid will be delayed until April 2029, but will raise £4.7billion that year and £2.6billion in the following year. 

Salary sacrifice schemes allow workers to take a supposed ‘pay cut’, with the money paid into their pension or put towards some other benefit like childcare instead.

Both they and their employer pay less National Insurance as a result, which has made operating workplace pensions as salary sacrifice schemes increasingly popular.

But Chancellor Rachel Reeves has now capped how much staff can pay into pensions using salary sacrifice, which will mean workers with defined contribution pensions – the vast majority in the private sector – lose a valuable retirement saving break.

There are also fears that an extra National Insurance cost to employers may lead to them cutting back on schemes that offer more generous pension contributions than the bare minimum required by law.

We explain what you need to know about pension salary sacrifice and the Budget cut. 

The Budget salary sacrifice cap

Rachel Reeves has capped the amount workers can salary sacrifice into pensions without having to pay National Insurance at £2,000 a year. Above this standard rates of NI will be charged at 8 per cent on basic rate earnings, up to £50,270, and 2 per cent above this in the higher rate thresholds

Workers who exceed the cap will therefore have to stump up more to end up with the same amount in their pensions.

Employers might see knock-on effects from changes in behaviour by their staff, as if less money is salary sacrificed into pensions it will instead be paid in wages, which incur full NI.

Also, if an employee gives up part of their salary to boost their pension, only the first £2,000 of that will remain NI-free from April 2029, with contributions above that subject to both employer and employee NI. 

Initially, middle-earners will not see a big difference to the cost of maintaining the same pension contributions – or lose much from the changes – but over the years the impact will compound.

Higher earners will see a more substantial immediate impact and a greater effect over the years. But basic rate earners pay a higher percentage of NI, at 8 per cent.

‘A deeply misguided move’

Retirement experts have heavily criticised the salary sacrifice cap arriving while the government is encouraging people to save more for retirement.

Jon Greer, head of retirement of policy at Quilter, says:  ‘Introducing a £2,000 cap on National Insurance relief for pension salary sacrifice from 2029 is a deeply misguided move. 

‘At a time when the Government acknowledges that tomorrow’s pensioners risk being poorer than today’s, policy should be focused on incentivising saving and not dismantling one of the most effective tools we have.’

Former Pensions Minister and partner at LCP, Steve Webb, says: ‘The decision not to implement this change until 2029 creates a huge opportunity for firms to restructure the way that they offer pay and pensions in order to mitigate or eliminate this new charge. 

‘There is a high probability that this policy will only raise a fraction of the amount expected by the Chancellor.’

Mike Ambery, retirement savings director at Standard Life, says: ‘The Chancellor’s decision to cap salary sacrifice at £2,000 a year marks a significant shift in how people can save for retirement. 

‘Salary sacrifice has long been one of the most efficient ways for workers to boost pension contributions, so limiting it will inevitably increase costs and reduce take-home pay for many. 

‘The surprise today is that the changes will apply only to individual’s contributions and employer contributions will remain exempt from national insurance. 

‘While the change is significant it is less damaging than feared and potentially creates a number of options for people to maintain their level of saving.’

How much will it cost workers? 

So what will the changes mean at your salary level? The numbers below were crunched by financial adviser Quilter.

Basic-rate taxpayers

Those earning £12,570 to £50,270 are taxed at 20 per cent on income above their personal allowance of £12,571, and pay National Insurance (NI) at 8 per cent.

Lower earners are likely to avoid the worst impact because most of their annual contributions will be under the cap.

A worker on £30,000 sacrificing 7 per cent or £2,100 of salary would need to pay an extra £8 into their pension to maintain contributions, according…