The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a new pan-European personal pension (PEPP), which includes a recommendation that member states agree to match the level of tax relief given to national personal pensions products, even where the PEPP does not match all the national criteria for relief.
Under the proposal, adopted at the end of June, the PEPP products would have the same standard features wherever they are sold in the EU and could be offered by a broad range of providers, such as insurance companies, banks, occupational pension funds, investment firms and asset managers. They are intended to complement existing state-based, occupational and national personal pensions, not to replace or harmonise national personal pension regimes. The PEPP would be portable between member states and savers would have the right to switch providers at a capped cost every five years.
The proposal is accompanied by a recommendation on the tax treatment of personal pension products, including the PEPP. This ‘encourages’ member states to grant the new PEPPs the same tax relief as they grant to national personal pensions products, even in those cases where the product features of the PEPP do not match all the national criteria for tax relief. Where member states have more than one type of personal pension, the recommendation asks them to give PEPPs the most favourable tax treatment available.
The proposal will now be discussed by the EU Parliament and the Council. The Commission expects the first providers to start offering PEPPs on the market approximately two years after the regulation comes into force. See http://bit.ly/2tHzNxE
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a new pan-European personal pension (PEPP), which includes a recommendation that member states agree to match the level of tax relief given to national personal pensions products, even where the PEPP does not match all the national criteria for relief.
Under the proposal, adopted at the end of June, the PEPP products would have the same standard features wherever they are sold in the EU and could be offered by a broad range of providers, such as insurance companies, banks, occupational pension funds, investment firms and asset managers. They are intended to complement existing state-based, occupational and national personal pensions, not to replace or harmonise national personal pension regimes. The PEPP would be portable between member states and savers would have the right to switch providers at a capped cost every five years.
The proposal is accompanied by a recommendation on the tax treatment of personal pension products, including the PEPP. This ‘encourages’ member states to grant the new PEPPs the same tax relief as they grant to national personal pensions products, even in those cases where the product features of the PEPP do not match all the national criteria for tax relief. Where member states have more than one type of personal pension, the recommendation asks them to give PEPPs the most favourable tax treatment available.
The proposal will now be discussed by the EU Parliament and the Council. The Commission expects the first providers to start offering PEPPs on the market approximately two years after the regulation comes into force. See http://bit.ly/2tHzNxE
