Savers will be able to access £1,500 tax-free for pension advice

A new pension advice allowance will be introduced from April 2017. First announced in last year’s autumn statement it will enable people to withdraw £500 up to three times from their pension pots tax-free to put towards the cost of pensions and retirement advice.

The economic secretary to the Treasury Simon Kirby confirmed that the allowance:

• can be used three times but in different tax years;
• will be available at any age; and
• can be redeemed against the cost of regulated financial advice.

It will be available to holders of defined contribution pensions and hybrid pensions with a defined contribution element but not defined benefit or final salary schemes.

Tom McPhail head of retirement policy at Hargreaves Lansdown said: ‘For most investors there are occasions through their working lives when financial...