October 2021
18Oct

UK. Survey highlights lack of pension tax awareness amongst DC savers

Over a third (38 per cent) of defined contribution (DC) pension scheme members aged 50-65 are unaware of their tax-free pension allowance, a survey from Hymans Robertson has found. The research found that a further 32 per cent believed, incorrectly, that they can withdraw their entire pensions pot without paying tax, whilst nearly a fifth (17 per cent) wrongly believe that they do not have to pay any tax on income from their pension. Hymans Robertson partner, Kathryn Fleming, said that...

October 18, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...

September 2021
30Sep

Do Tax Deferred Accounts Improve Lifecycle Savings? Experimental Evidence

By John Duffy, Yue Li Tax deferred accounts (TDAs) are an increasingly popular method of saving for retirement, and have become common across many developed countries. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether TDAs actually improve a household's lifecycle savings behavior and retirement preparedness because it is difficult to perform a counterfactual analysis. Households always have other means of savings so there is no guarantee that a TDA, with its inflexible restriction that funds cannot be drawn until retirement, will be attractive...

September 30, 2021
Articles, Pension design, Savings, ,
Read more...
30Sep

Progressive Pensions as an Incentive for Labor Force Participation

By Fabian Kindermann, Veronika Pueschel In this paper, we challenge the conventional idea that an increase in the progressivity of old-age pensions unanimously distorts the labor supply decision of households. So far, the literature has argued that higher pension progressivity leads to more redistribution and insurance provision on the one hand, but increases implicit taxes and therefore distorts labor supply choices on the other. In contrast, we show that a well-designed reform of the pension system has the potential to...

September 30, 2021
Articles, Labor Market, Pension design, , ,
Read more...
24Sep

Progressive Pensions as an Incentive for Labor Force Participation

By Fabian Kindermann, Veronika Pueschel In this paper, we challenge the conventional idea that an increase in the progressivity of old-age pensions unanimously distorts the labor supply decision of households. So far, the literature has argued that higher pension progressivity leads to more redistribution and insurance provision on the one hand, but increases implicit taxes and therefore distorts labor supply choices on the other. In contrast, we show that a well-designed reform of the pension system has the potential to...

September 24, 2021
Adequacy, Articles, Pension design, ,
Read more...
03Sep

Policy Forum: Tax, Social Security, and Employment Status – Removing the Distortions in the United Kingdom

By Judith Freedman The COVID-19 pandemic has strained tax and social security systems. Cracks that have existed for some time have been opened up further and are unlikely to close without structural repair. New insights into the shifting nature of work, combined with the development of technologies that can provide modern, practical solutions to old problems, offer the opportunity to rethink the way we tax gig workers and other non-standard providers of labour. This article argues that we need to...

September 3, 2021
Articles, System Sustainability, ,
Read more...

August 2021
31Aug

India. Pensioners’ body urges Govt to exempt pension from income tax; seeks PM’s intervention

Pensioners' body Bharatiya Pensioners Manch has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to exempt pension from income tax to provide relief to the senior citizens in the country. In a letter shot off to the Prime Minister on August 25 this year, the body argued that if the pensions of the Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies are not taxable, then why does the government levy income tax on the pension of retired employees. "Every retired person is paid pension...

August 31, 2021
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
26Aug

The New Income Projection Rules for Defined Contribution Plans

By Richard L. Kaplan & Barry Federici The SECURE Act enacted at the end of 2019 requires that defined contribution retirement plans provide plan participants will projections of how much monthly income their accumulated balances will generate upon their retirement. This article analyzes the new Labor Department regulations that go into effect on September 18, 2021 and suggests various revisions, including an explanation of likely tax consequences. Source: SSRN 381 views

August 26, 2021
Articles, Pension design, Regulation, , ,
Read more...
26Aug

US. Retirement Tax Benefits Exacerbate Racial Inequities

By Steve Rosenthal In a recent report co-authored with University of Chicago Professor Daniel Hemel, I described how our retirement tax system favors the rich disproportionately. Read also A New Look at Racial Disparities Using a More Comprehensive Wealth Measure But it’s worse than that: Our system of generous tax subsidies for retirement savings—such as 401(k) plans, other defined contribution plans, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs)—also exacerbates racial inequities. Due in part to these tax breaks, the gap between the average retirement...

August 26, 2021
News, OP Ed, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
19Aug

Pensions, Income Taxes and Homeownership: A Cross-Country Analysis

By Hans Fehr, Maurice Hofmann & George Kudrna This paper studies the role of pensions and income taxes in determining homeownership and household wealth. It provides a cross-country analysis, using tax and pension policy designs in Germany, the US and Australia. These developed nations have similar incomes per capita but very different homeownership rates, with the US and Australia having much higher homeownership compared to Germany. The question is to what extent the observed differences in homeownership are induced by...

August 19, 2021
Articles, Pension design, Regulation, , , ,
Read more...

June 2021
01Jun

Germany plans pension taxation reform after election

Germany's Finance Ministry said on Monday it plans to reform the taxation of pensions after September's federal election, responding to the federal fiscal court's demand for an overhaul to avoid the double taxation of future retirement savings. "This is a proposed solution that we can imagine," State Secretary Rolf Boesinger said in Munich. He spoke after the court dismissed one couple's double taxation complaint but said future pensioners were at risk of having to pay taxes twice under existing transitional regulations. The...

June 1, 2021
News, ,
Read more...