• You will need to complete a declaration that they satisfy the required conditions.
• You need to finish saving into pensions.

•  A company pension being paid to you either from the UK or from Overseas; or
•  An annuity being paid to you (from a personal pension or company pension) either from the UK or from Overseas;or
• A state pension being paid to you either from the UK or from overseas.

For investors with money outside of an ISA, in Unit Trusts or OEICS for example, the Capital Gains Tax allowance is now £10 600

The ECJ Annuity Ruling

The ECJ has handed down its much awaited judgement in the Test-Achats case on sex discrimination and insurance premiums.

Initial reports show that it has followed the Advocate General’s opinion which was issued last September. The effect is that an insurer will not be able to take sex into account in setting either annuity rates or insurance premiums.

The ECJ’s decision means that the existing EU Gender Directive opt out clause (Article 5(2) of Directive 2004/113/EC), which permits insurers to discriminate on grounds of sex, ceases to have effect from 21 December 2012.

 From this it would appear that:

• There is now an end date for sex-based annuity purchases of 21 December 2012. This is likely to prompt a male annuity closing down sale in the run up to Christmas 2012.
• For women, in theory the opposite applies: all other things being equal, it should be better to wait until the December 2012 deadline has passed to buy an annuity.
• The opposite will apply to life cover: unisex life assurance rates should cut the cost of cover for men and increase it for women.

The new limit now in place appplies to every customer at each authorised firm.

The new limit is part of a Europe-wide requirement for each country to offer compensation equivalent to 100,000 euros.

Compensation will be paid by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said the new higher limit would cover the “vast majority” of UK savers.

Auto-Enrolment Review Published
Last month we reported that the Government had confirmed, as part of its Spending Review, that auto-enrolment will definitely go ahead from October 2012.

This month they have published the outcome of their review into auto-enrolment and which recommendations will be adopted. The purpose of the review was to ensure a balance between costs and benefits for individuals and that it will not create a disproportionate burden on employers.

The main points of the review are:

Auto-enrolment will be staged according to the size of the employer between October 2012 and September 2016.
The largest employers will have to comply first from October 2012.
The earnings threshold at which an individual is auto-enrolled will be aligned with the income tax personal allowance (£7,475 in 2011/12).
The threshold at which contributions become payable will be aligned with the National Insurance primary threshold (£5,715 in 2010/11).
All individuals earning more than the National Insurance primary threshold will be able to opt-in to their employer’s designated scheme and receive an employer contribution if they want to do so.
There is no change in the age limits between which automatic enrolment will apply (22 and pensionable age).
Individuals must be automatically enrolled before they can opt out; they cannot choose in advance of being automatically enrolled not to join.
Very small employers will not be excluded from the requirements.
National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) will be retained and measures will be taken to ensure small employers have easy access to it.
There will be an optional three month waiting period before an employee needs to be automatically enrolled into a pension scheme. During this period, individuals can choose to opt in to start saving straight away.
The largest employers who are due to be brought into the reforms between 1 October 2012 and 1 November 2012 will be allowed to start auto-enrolment from as early as July 2012.
Employers will be given the flexibility to re-enrol employees three months either side of their automatic re-enrolment date.
The facility for certain employers to postpone automatic enrolment will be removed.
The process for employers to certify that their money purchase scheme meets the relevant quality requirements will be simplified into a simple three step process.
The Government will work with employer representatives over the next few months to determine what measures can be put in place to ensure employers are not held liable for their scheme choice if they choose NEST or a stakeholder pension scheme.

The Government will also work with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation to ensure a smooth transition for employment agencies.

There will not be any legislation at present to remove the cap on contributions into NEST, intended to stay in place until at least 2017. The Government will wait to see how the reforms roll out before deciding whether to allow increased contributions. The Government will also consider the general issue of how pension transfers can be simplified to make it easier for people to transfer between pension schemes; there do not appear to be any proposals at present to remove the restriction on transfers into or out of NEST.

Please do get in touch with us using our contact form, by calling 01285 653493 or by using one of the links below to read more information, here on our website.

We provide advice on investments, mortgages, pensions, protection and inheritance planning.

If we can be of any assistance to you, we would love to speak with you.