NHS trusts pay pension contributions in cash to ease consultants’ tax burden

Some NHS trusts are seeking to mitigate the impact of high tax bills arising from tighter pension rules by topping up consultants’ salaries with cash.

Changes to rules on pension allowance that limit what staff can save into a pension each year before tax charges apply have landed consultants with huge unexpected tax bills and are causing many to retire early or to avoid taking on additional work.12

The government has acknowledged that the situation is exacerbating the NHS workforce crisis,3 and the health minister Jackie Doyle-Price recently revealed that more than 3500 doctors had retired early from the NHS from 2016 to 2018 because of pension rules.

The Financial Times reported on 14 April4 that around 10 NHS …