Michael Brough is the director at Towers Watson, a global professional services company, which released its sixth annual report on international pension plans (IPPs) at the end of last year. The report surveyed 438 IPPs sponsored by 406 companies. The Chicago-based consultant talks about the growing importance of such funds for employers who have staff in the Middle East and Arabian Gulf region.

Tax relief on pension contributions should be scrapped and replaced in favour of a simple matching savings scheme, according to think tank ResPublica. 

The non-partisan organisation, set up by director Phillip Blond, said tax relief had cost more than £48bn but had not helped boost pension saving.

Speaking on the issue, Blond said a new mass savings vehicle, which could become a tool for widespread investment, would provide a fairer alternative.

Staff who have not completed one continuous year with any ministry is not entitled to gratuity: FAHR
Expatriates working in federal departments are not entitled to return tickets upon end of service unless it is mentioned in the employment contract, according to the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR).

HMRC is currently sending letters to companies that have made contributions to Employer Financed Retirement Benefit Schemes (EFRBS) that outline an opportunity to settle the taxation treatment of these contributions under one of two possible treatments. These letters specifically concern cases in which corporation tax deductions have been claimed for contributions to an EFRBS without a corresponding income tax charge on beneficiaries.

This report summarises the results of the 2013 International Pension Plan (IPP) survey, an annual survey conducted by Towers Watson regarding IPP specific design elements and membership criteria. The 2013 survey covers 438 IPPs sponsored by 406 companies. This represents an increase in participation of approximately 10% from last year's survey. This increase partly reflects the publicity and increased general interest in the IPP survey, but also reflects the fact that new plans are being set up continuously. According to the survey participants, 15 new IPPs were reported as having been established over the last year.

Dubai: Companies in the region are taking the necessary steps to enhance their gratuity governance.

The Chancellor will present his Autumn Statement this Thursday with experts wary the update on the exonomy will see another raid on retirement saving.

Last year's statement saw George Osborne slash the amounts people can save into their pensions tax-free each year to £40,000, and over their lifetime to £1.25million - changes which will come into force from April.

With this year's statement imminent, pension experts are pleading for a grace period for an industry that has undergone wide-ranging regulatory changes in recent years.

Guernsey is considering amending the pension provisions of its income tax law to enable so-called “pan-island occupational pension schemes” to again receive transfer payments from UK-registered pension schemes.

For decades, employee benefit trusts (EBTs) have been used to help organisations set money aside for the benefit of their workforce.

But in recent years, such schemes have come under increasing scrutiny from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) (see box), which has taken a heavy-handed approach to organisations considered to be trying to reduce their tax bill.