As part of the Spring budget the government has advised that the Lifetime Allowance (LTA) charge won’t apply from 6 April 2023 (2023/24 tax year).

Subsequently, we’ve had enquiries about how members can ‘defer’ their retirement benefits until after 6 April 2023. While we don’t encourage members to defer taking retirement benefits, members are able to withdraw their retirement application, provided that the application has not been processed and sent for payment/paid.

To formally withdraw a retirement application, we require confirmation. The easiest way to do this is via the secure message facility on My Pension Online, or contact us as soon as possible. Members would then need to submit a new retirement application in the new tax year (2023/24)

We recommend that you seek independent financial advice before making a decision regarding deferring your retirement benefits.

There are different conditions for different types of retirement benefits. For example, if a member makes an application for early retirement benefits while in employment, the payable date of their award will be the day after leaving all employment covered by the Scheme. Should that member withdraw their ‘in-service’ application and subsequently make an ‘out-of-service’ early retirement application, the member needs to choose a payable date at least six weeks after the date of application.

Read our guide for more information about the conditions for accessing benefits (PDF, 478 KB) (This link opens in a new window).