 "UK's Osborne drops pensions reform plan")
British Finance Minister George Osborne has dropped plans for a pensions overhaul that had run into opposition in his Conservative Party.
Osborne, who is due to make his annual Budget statement on March 16, has been considering reforms of the pension system that could raise revenues for his push to turn Britain's budget deficit into a surplus by the end of the decade.
Reform options included introducing a flat rate of tax relief on pension contributions, which would hit wealthier savers, or the more radical idea of taxing pension contributions and ending the tax-free lump sums that pensioners enjoy now.
Osborne was forced into a major policy U-turn last year when he announced plans to cut tax credits for low-earning households but dropped them after they were opposed by lawmakers across the political spectrum and rejected by parliament's upper house.
Osborne, who is due to make his annual Budget statement on March 16, has been considering reforms of the pension system that could raise revenues for his push to turn Britain's budget deficit into a surplus by the end of the decade.
Reform options included introducing a flat rate of tax relief on pension contributions, which would hit wealthier savers, or the more radical idea of taxing pension contributions and ending the tax-free lump sums that pensioners enjoy now.
Osborne was forced into a major policy U-turn last year when he announced plans to cut tax credits for low-earning households but dropped them after they were opposed by lawmakers across the political spectrum and rejected by parliament's upper house.