GETTY Outrage as public sector look for compensation from pension tax scheme

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Public sector fat cats including doctors, police officers, civil servants and head teachers - many of whom already have pensions in excess of £1million - have been slammed over their “breathtaking gall” for requesting the extra cash. The calls for an increment come as the Treasury introduces measures to force workers earning more than £150,000 to pay more tax on their contributions by reducing the annual limit from £40,000 to £10,000.

GETTY The move has been described as a "breathtaking gall"

But greedy sector workers want the exemption to allow them to swap heavily-taxed pension contributions for equivalent pay rises. Universities and academy school senior staff are the only current profession where the exemption applies sees staff swapping heavily-taxed pension perks for other more "tax efficient" bonuses such as chauffeur-driven cars and free accommodation. Figures by University and College Union revealed Professor Craig Calhoun, director at the London School of Economics, claimed a staggering £59,811 for flights in 2013/14 on top of his £327,000 salary.

GETTY Sector workers have in excess of £1million in pensions already

Professor Pamela Gillies, vice chancellor at Glasgow Caledonian University, claimed £27,271 for hotels while vice-chancellor of Nottingham Trent university Neil Gorman earned £623,000 in his final salary due to five years' worth of bonuses. Unions now want a similar strategy to apply more widely to well-paid public sector staff - but with cost-neutral "compensation" paid in the form of additional salary. Policy adviser for the National Association of Head Teachers Valentine Mullholand said: "We are asking the Government to review this because it will really discourage people from investing in pensions."

GETTY The pension taxes are set to be introduced in April

Alex Wild, research director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "The gall displayed by unions demanding special treatment for the upper-echelons of the public sector elite is breathtaking - the tax system already allows top earners in the public sector to enjoy retirement incomes twice as high as those saving into money purchase schemes without triggering punitive tax charges. The last thing we need are complicated exemptions so those fortunate enough to be members of these gold-plated schemes can enjoy even more preferential treatment to the taxpayers who fund them." A HM Treasury spokesperson said: “The tapered annual allowance only impacts 2pc of those saving for a pension. The government has no plans to make changes to this policy, but launched a wide-ranging consultation to look into pensions tax relief last year. This consultation has now closed. We are considering the responses and will respond in due course.”