Pressures on government are rising as the cost of pension tax relief continues to increase due mainly to the success of auto-enrolment, according to AJ Bell.

The Treasury will drastically reduce the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) from £10,000 to £4,000 from today (6 April 2017), the start of the new tax year despite strong opposition from Financial Planners and the industry.

Editor: My 10 Wishes for Financial Planning in 2017

It’s traditional at this time of year to make predictions about the coming 12 months. Being somewhat of a contrarian I’m not going to do that.

Pension tax relief, particularly for higher rate taxpayers, is a hugely used element in the Financial Planner’s arsenal but it’s future may well be in jeopardy along with the Treasury’s commitment to fund pension saving with generous tax benefits.