We are finding doctors are asking about 1 October 2022 changes with respect to annualisation.
What is annualisation?
This is the process whereby the annual equivalent of income is considered in order to arrive at the correct tier rate. For a doctor with a contract covering the whole pension year (to 31st March), this will be their actual pensionable income. Where, however, there are gaps between contracts or scheme membership is not for the whole year, or where the doctor is solely a locum at any time, then the figures need ‘annualising’. For a locum, this will be 365 divided by the number of days actually worked – which nearly always comes out to give a 14.5% tier.
The current rules will continue up to 30 September 2022, so annualisation will still be applied where relevant to the first half of the current year.