The government is giving NHS employees an extension on their pension scheme allowance liabilities for tax bills relating to 2018/19.
NHS employees will now have until March 2021 to submit to the voluntary NHS pension scheme, an additional five months on top of the original three month extension. In May 2020, NHS Business Services Authority extended the deadline from 31 July until 31 October 2020, due to the pressure NHS employees are currently facing surrounding the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
If an employee chooses to use the voluntary scheme, the NHS will pay their annual tax allowance bill to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) with the members' benefits in retirement reduced by an identical amount, avoiding the need for staff to settle any pension tax bills with cash upfront.
NHS employees must also notify the NHS pensions department if they would like to use this scheme before the annual deadline for the tax year 2019/20.
A spokesperson at NHS Business Services Authority said: "In light of the pressures faced by NHS staff during the Coronavirus pandemic, the NHS Business Services Authority is keen to support our NHS colleagues. Following careful consideration, we extended the voluntary scheme pays deadline for 2018/19 by three months until 31 October 2020. We have reviewed this extension again and extended the 2018/19 deadline until 31 March 2021."
