NI cap cuts salary sacrifice, hurts pensions, ICAS warns

Ellichipuram Umesh

Fri, April 17, 2026 astatine 9:01 AM CDT 1 min read

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) has warned that the Chancellor’s headdress connected nationalist security (NI) alleviation could discourage pension saving.

The remark comes aft reports that immoderate employers are withdrawing wage sacrifice schemes successful effect to the change.

The accountancy assemblage said that measures that discourage pension redeeming magnitude to “short-sighted taxation policy”.

ICAS taxation manager Katie Close said: “Reports of employers withdrawing wage sacrifice schemes are unsurprising. The changes to wage sacrifice announced successful the 2025 Budget volition person long‑lasting impacts for some individuals and businesses.

“At a clip erstwhile backstage pension redeeming is already insufficient and the colonisation is ageing, measures that disincentivise pension redeeming correspond short‑sighted taxation argumentation – peculiarly successful the lack of wider betterment to promote long‑term status saving.”

The nonrecreational assemblage urged “coherent, unchangeable and long-term” pension rules to springiness employers, savers and the wider manufacture the assurance to program ahead.

Close added: “Research by the IFS and the Pensions Commission shows that much than a 5th of backstage assemblage workers don’t prevention into a workplace pension astatine all. Of those who do, astir 30–40% are not connected way to execute an capable status income.

“These changes hazard exacerbating this occupation if employers respond by withdrawing wage sacrifice schemes oregon reducing the generosity of pension proviso for each workers.”

She added that the halfway intent of pensions argumentation should beryllium to unafraid capable income successful status for individuals.

“Without that clarity and certainty, reforms hazard undermining the precise outcomes they are meant to support, portion perchance widening existing inequalities specified arsenic the sex pensions gap,” Close concluded.

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