Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister, believes there is a strong likelihood the Chancellor will have to cut pension tax reliefs in the November Budget or soon after to make up for revenue shortfalls.

Giving a keynote speech today to more than 400 people at the CISI-IFP Annual Financial Planning Conference, he predicted that the £40,000 annual allowance could be the first target in the Chancellor's firing line. He said this could be reduced to £30,000.

The lifetime allowance, currently £1m, could also be cut, he said as the Chancellor faces up to a November budget where he will need to make up lost revenue from failed tax measures earlier in the year.

Sir Steve, who now works for Royal London, told the conference at Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, Wales, that the Treasury "hates pensions and loves Isas."

Because of this they lumped together tax relief allowances. Adding together the £40,000 annual pension investment allowance to the annual £20,000 Isa allowance meant that individuals could invest £60,000 across the two, in Treasury thinking, or £120,000 for a couple - considered a generous tax relief and ripe for cutting, he said.

He added: "I think the annual allowance will go down significantly. The lifetime allowance could certainly go down as it passes the Daily Mail test as most people out there still think £1m is a lot of money."

He said overall the cost of tax relief to the government went up by £3bn last year and faced with the difficulty of getting primary legislation through a hostile House of Lords, the government would need to turn to tax relief to make up shortfalls as this was not a matter voted on by the House of Lords.

He said he believed it unlikely, however, that the pension tax free cash would be targeted and the Chancellor would be reluctant to do much on inheritance tax.

Turning to pensions transfers he predicted this market would rise from 80,000 transfers this year to 100,000 next year and could be stimulated further by new European legislation which would require pension schemes to write to 5m deferred members to inform them of the size of their pension fund and their likely income. This could come as a "surprise" to many and further spur transfer business when they realised the size of their fund.

This would be met by increased regulatory interest in the market from the FCA. 

"Pensions have never been so interesting," he said.

The three day conference got under way yesterday with 350 advisers attending plus another 100 speakers, experts and exhibitors. There will be a number of keynote speeches today and a Gala Awards Dinner this evening.

Other highlights will include keynotes from Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes and a closing address by Nick Cann CFP, former chief executive of the IFP and a stroke survivor. There will also be dozens of other expert speakers, including many leading Financial Planners and retirement and investment planning experts.

Among the speakers are two international CFP Professionals from the USA and South Africa. Sophia Bera CFP, founder of Gen Y Planning, will talk about planning for millennials and Gerald Mwandiambira will be speaking on the opportunities and challenges ahead for Financial Planning in Africa.

The event can also be followed on Twitter on #FPAC17.

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