Role of tax incentives for increase in personal pensions saving

Abstract

Personal pensions increase their role in the retirement savings in the European Union. The design of the personal pensions is of great importance for the success of the saving. In the European Union there is no common legislation on the taxation of pensions. In recent years, the personal responsibility of savers for making decisions to save for retirement has increased. The limited ability of public pension systems to guarantee an adequate and sustainable income after working age necessitates the search for opportunities to fill this "pension gap". That is why the market for long-term savings products is central to achieving adequate income replacement and maintaining the standard of living of the elderly. This is one of the reasons for the greater role of the tax treatment of the savings products. The paper is analyzing the role of tax incentives for the increase of the saving in personal pension products. The study is searching answer which are the most important steps for efficient tax policy of retirement savings products. The new product on the European Union market, the pan-European personal pension product, sheds extra light on the topic of the importance and the efficiency of the tax treatment of saving in personal pension products. The research finds out that favourable tax treatment for saving in personal pension products is a must but it has to be major part of the overall social welfare and tax policy of the member states.

Does the Pan‑European Personal Pension Product Suit All? Its Perspectives in the EU Member and Candidate Countries

“…In the EU, a new Pan-European Personal Pension Product was introduced to increase the number of people saving in personal retirement products (Dimitrov 2021). The PEPP was legislated in 2019 and became applicable in March 2022.…”