While the £2,000 cap on national insurance free salary sacrifice pension contributions was framed as a tax on high earners, the reality is far messier. On paper, it looks like a targeted measure aimed squarely at the wealthy. In practice, it hits middle income savers and small and medium-sized businesses the hardest.

In fact, far from being a simple restriction on tax-efficient pension saving, the cap risks distorting incentives and undermining both retirement planning and employer-sponsored pension schemes.

An NI imbalance