Brewin Dolphin call for dividend tax credit’s return
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Brewin Dolphin call for dividend tax credit’s return
Independent private client investment manager Brewin Dolphin has called on the Government to use the forthcoming Pre-Budget Report (PBR) to help address the pensions hole by restoration of the dividend tax credit.
Brewin Dolphin has warned that if the pensions hole is not tackled then the country’s rapidly ageing population will present a substantial difficulty for the public finances for years to come.
According to an ABI report from November 2008 13 million people are not saving sufficiently for their retirement.
Furthermore, the Pension Protection Fund has said that the country’s 7,400 defined-benefit schemes now suffer a deficit of £179.3bn, having enjoyed a surplus of £51bn one year ago.
Executive chairman Jamie Matheson has described the pensions hole as the biggest fiscal problem the UK faces over future decades, and has said that restoring the dividend tax credit may cost money now but will lead to longer term savings.
Matheson added that the Conservatives have hinted that they would perhaps restore the tax credit in the future.
In September Brewin Dolphin criticised the Government’s Budget changes which raised the ISA threshold, but only for those aged 50 or older.
