Treasury forced to disclose pension tax raid details
Information commissioner demands that Treasury reveal reasons for 1997 pensions tax raid
The Treasury will have to reveal the details of the forecasts behind Gordon
Brown’s move in 1997 to tax pensions, and explain how the government expected it
to affect retirement funds.
The Daily Telegraph reports that following a freedom of inforamtion
request, the Information Commissioner asked the government why it has withdrawn
the tax credit on dividends. The request centres on how this move impacted the
dividends collected by pension funds.
Until now the Treasury has refused to release the information on the grounds
that it related to the development of government policy and would undermine the
way policy decisions were taken.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said: ‘Now Gordon Brown will be forced to
tell us the truth behind his £5bn pension tax raid, and whether he knew the
damage he was going to cause to pensions.’