NHS workforce plan: Doctors will be able to halve pension contributions to ease tax burden

Senior clinicians such as GPs and consultants will be able to halve their pension contributions to avoid significant tax charges, under new proposals outlined by the government.1

The new “50:50” offer, unveiled as part of the long awaited interim workforce plan for the NHS in England, will afford doctors new flexibility to halve the rate of their pension growth in exchange for halving their contributions to the NHS pension scheme. Currently, the NHS scheme does not offer any flexibility in the rate at which the pension builds, with the highest earning consultants contributing 14.5% of their pensionable pay each month.

This has led to doctors taking early retirement or cutting clinical hours, as they are unable to control their contributions and thus exceed the pensions allowance, which limits what NHS staff can pay into their pensions before tax charges apply. This has left many facing large tax bills.2 …