c) Even higher earners and tapered annual allowance – Is your income above £240,000pa? If it wasn’t technical enough already, it’s about to get worse. The tapered annual allowance th was introduced on 6 April 2016 and it results in a reduction in your annual allowance for higher earners. For taper to apply, the limits on ‘threshold income’ and ‘adjusted income’ must be exceeded. For every £2 of adjusted income over £240,000, an individual’s annual allowance is reduced by £1 down to a minimum of £4,000. Prior to 2020/21, this adjusted income level was set at £150,000 and the minimum was £10,000. This means your current annual allowance and previous years may be different as both your income and the rules may have changed in that time. Those with adjusted income of over £240,000 will have less than the £40,000 annual allowance. Those with adjusted income over £312,000 will be subject to a maximum (tax relievable) pension allowance of £4,000. Remember this applies to active defined benefit and defined contribution pensions and therefore your local government, teachers or NHS scheme could be taking you over this limit and creating a tax charge. Speak to an adviser if you think this affects you. d) Pensions for Minors and Non-Earners - Give your Grandchild a million pound pension fund. Did you know that a child can have a pension from 3 months old? Yes, its true, you can start your child, grandchild, niece, nephew etc on the road to a secure financial future by starting their pension planning early. As a minor, £2880.00pa can be invested into a pension per annum which attracts tax relief from HMRC of £720.00 meaning the total contribution into the pension is £3,600pa (Only £2,880 from you personally). This is then invested and has the beauty of compound returns until their retirement age which, if the amount is invested every year until they are 18, will have a huge impact on their pension planning. As it is in their name, if you were to die it is theirs, no inheritance tax to consider as the £2880.00 would be below the annual gifting allowance. Based on a 5% net return and a retirement age of 65, the pension would be worth £1,000,000 just from the payments from 0 -18 years old (and hopefully they would add to it later, on top). A million- pound pension fund. Now that is a way to leave a legacy. This is the same for non-earners, they can invest the same £2880.00pa and benefit from the £720.00 in tax relief so if you have a spouse that is a homemaker or is off work for whatever reason, don’t let them have a gap in their retirement planning, if you have capacity to do so make sure you utilise this allowance as you cannot get it back if lost. You can even do this if you are retired and under 75, you will still get the tax relief.