RetiringHopeful

Question: Under the revised LTA/Lump Sum Payment rules for PCLS is the following allowed/possible from 6.April.2024: I have a £350k DB pension fund and £110k DC pension pot. Can I take £100k Lump Sum from DC, and no Lump from DB Pension scheme? Background to question: The Nov.2023 Newsletter on abolition of LTA includes a summary of changes to Lump Sums. It reads as though the changes could be useful to everyone, not just the those with big pension pots. It says that Tax Free lump sum is by person not by scheme - which would give greater flexibility to everyone with multiple pension pots. There is a limit against which Lump Sums are measured and tracked by HMRC, and it says the requirement to have available LTA to take any lump sum payment will be removed. Reading a series of other updates for 6.April.2024 it is clear that reporting on pension payments is simplified and reporting of Lump Sums carries more emphasis as each scheme can no longer know whether they would take a person over the £268,275 limit. If the result of the new rules is that Lump Sums are by Person then it could be a genuinely useful change. Lots of people have multiple pension pots, and merging them into one is not always possible, or may result in lower pension payments (esp. the case when DB pensions are merged with DC pension pots - IFA's almost always advise against giving up DB pension benefits in this way). If everyone could take more of the Lump Sum from the worst paying scheme, and ongoing pension payment from the better paying scheme that would seem a sensible improvement. In my case the DB pension will pay at a better rate than the DC pension. So if I can take all my Lump Sum from just the DC scheme I could get a better annual pension from the DB scheme, and this actually means I pay more Tax so even HMRC would benefit from this :). FYI: I asked my DC provider the above question and they told me NO, There is no change to Lump Sums its 25% per scheme, and not by person; thus I'm stuck with accepting lower pension as a result by taking lump sum from both (or skip the Lump Sum on DB to get their better annual pension). Please confirm what the rules are as it frustrating to have a pension change for LTA that only focuses on big payouts, and misses a simple opportunity that is almost a by-product of the LTA changes (HMRC checking no one exceeds £268275 should remove need for 25% LS cap per scheme that used to be the rule) . Also if this is not yet in place, but is coming as part of future changes please let me know. URL for the HMRC Newsletter: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/abolition-of-the-lifetime-allowance-from-6-april-2024/abolition-of-the-lifetime-allowance-lta Thank you