HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) released its latest pensions schemes newsletter at the end of June, which is always worth a read. If you haven’t got the time to plough through the whole thing I’ve summarised the key items of interest to advisers below.
Lifetime allowance online service
In its last newsletter, HMRC explained that the online service for scheme members to apply for protection from the lifetime allowance tax charge will be available from the end of July.
The new online service will also allow pension scheme members to view a history of their previous lifetime allowance protection details.
If individuals want to apply for lifetime allowance protection from the end of July or to view details of their protections, they will need an HMRC Online Services Account. To create an account, or to login to an existing one, they should visit HERE
HMRC reiterated that individuals who are not planning to take benefits before August this year should wait and apply for protection using the online digital service from the end of July. In the interim, there is a paper based version which is currently taking about 20 days to process.
Finance Bill 2016 – Royal Assent expected sometime…
In recent years, the Finance Bill has received Royal Assent in the July after its publication.
As the Public Bill Committee consideration of the Finance Bill 2016 was only due to conclude on the 14 July, Royal Assent will be later this year. HMRC doesn’t currently have a timetable for when Royal Assent will be, however, it will provide more information when this is announced.
Pension flexibility payments: Operating PAYE correctly
In pension schemes newsletter 67, HMRC provided guidance on operating PAYE on pension flexibility payments.
HMRC is aware that when making pension flexibility payments, some pension scheme administrators (SAs) are still treating these as annual payments and calculating PAYE on a month 12 basis, instead of week one/month one basis.
Flexibly accessed payments should not be treated as annual payments, but instead be taxed using either the emergency code on a week one/month one basis or, where a SA has a current year P45, using that code on a week one/month one basis.
In cases where the fund has not been extinguished, HMRC will then issue a tax code to operate against future payments. This applies to pension flexibility payments from 6 April 2016 onwards.
Pension schemes helpline
A number of pension letters from HMRC have the wrong telephone number on them. The 0845 600 2622 telephone number is the old Pension Schemes Helpline number.
The correct one is 0300 123 1079 HMRC has apologised for any inconvenience caused and is currently working to update all letters with the current helpline number.
HMRC warning: Email/text scams
On 28 July, HMRC issued a further update warning on scams. To view the update in full, which also contains screen grabs of some of the fake forms/texts used by scammers, click here
HMRC said: “If you think you have received an HMRC related phishing/bogus email or text message, you can check it against the examples shown in this guide.
“It will help our investigations if you report all ‘HMRC related’ phishing emails and bogus text messages to us. Even if you receive the same/similar phishing email or text message on multiple occasions, please forward it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and then delete it.
“Do not open any attachments or click on any links within the email or text message, as they may contain malicious software or direct you to a bogus website.”
Keeley Paddon is head of pensions technical at SimplyBiz Group
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