These Regulations may be cited as the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (General Levy) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 1st April 2005.

For the purposes of these Regulations, notwithstanding section 39(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, where a period of time is expressed to begin on, or to be reckoned from, a particular day, that day shall be included in the period.

The trustees of each registrable occupational pension scheme are liable to pay a levy to the Department for the purpose of meeting the expenditure referred to in section 170(1) of the Act, except for expenditure of the Regulatory Authority in connection with its functions in relation to schemes within paragraph (2).

The trustees of each registrable personal pension scheme are liable to pay a levy to the Department for the purpose of meeting the expenditure referred to in section 170(1) of the Act, except for expenditure of the Regulatory Authority in connection with its functions in relation to schemes within paragraph (1).

Subject to paragraph (4), the general levy is payable in respect of each financial year.

The general levy payable in respect of the financial year in which the scheme in relation to which the levy is payable becomes registrable is reduced to the appropriate fraction of the amount that would be payable if the scheme were registrable for the whole of the financial year.

In paragraph (5) “the appropriate fraction” means the fraction the numerator of which is the number of days in the financial year when the scheme is a registrable scheme, and the denominator of which is 365 or, if the financial year ends in a leap year, 366.

The general levy is to be sent to the Regulatory Authority which is to collect and recover it on behalf of the Department.

The general levy in respect of a financial year is payable in advance on the first day of that year, unless paragraph (4) applies.

No additional levy or refund of levy is payable in respect of any change taking place during the financial year for which the general levy is payable (including a scheme ceasing to be a registrable scheme), unless regulation 7 applies.

The general levy payable in respect of the financial year in which the scheme in relation to which the levy is payable becomes registrable is payable in arrears on the first day of the following financial year.

The amount of the general levy payable for a financial year in respect of a scheme is calculated by reference to the number of the scheme’s members on the reference day.

The general rule is that the reference day for a scheme is the last day of the scheme year which ended before the beginning of the previous financial year.

For the purposes of paragraph (1), an employer is insolvent if an insolvency event has occurred in relation to him.

Article 105 of the Order (insolvency event, insolvency date and insolvency practioner) applies for the interpretation of paragraph (2) as it applies for the interpretation of Part III of the Order.

Condition A is that contributions payable to the scheme by an employer, or by a member in employment under that employer, are allocated to that employer’s section (or, if more than one section applies to the employer, to the section which is appropriate in respect of the employment in question).

Condition B is that a specified part or proportion of the assets of the scheme is attributable to each section and cannot be used for the purposes of any other section.

For the purposes of paragraph (1), any provisions of the scheme by virtue of which contributions or transfers of assets may be made to make provision for death benefits are disregarded.

Where paragraph (1) applies and, by virtue of any provisions of the scheme, contributions or transfers of assets to make provision for death benefits are made to a section (“the death benefits section”) the assets of which may only be applied for the provision of death benefits, the death benefits section is also to be treated as a separate scheme.

For the purpose of this regulation, any provisions of the scheme by virtue of which assets attributable to one section may on the winding up of the scheme or a section be used for the purposes of another section are disregarded.

This regulation applies if, apart from paragraph (2), the general levy would be payable in respect of a scheme in respect of which a corresponding Great Britain levy is imposed.

The general levy is only imposed in respect of that scheme if the address of the scheme is in Northern Ireland.

For the purposes of paragraph (1), a levy is a corresponding Great Britain levy if it is imposed under any equivalent provision to section 170 of the Act and regulation 2.

For the purposes of paragraph (2), the address of the scheme is the place in the United Kingdom at which the management of the scheme is conducted or, if there is more than one such place, the principal place.

If a levy for which any person was liable under regulation 2 of the 1997 Regulations immediately before 1st April 2005 has not been paid in full before that date, that person must pay the outstanding amount to the Regulatory Authority which is to collect and recover it on behalf of the Department.

Where a levy for which any person was liable under regulation 5 of those Regulations immediately before that date has not been paid in full before that date, that person must pay the outstanding amount to the Regulatory Authority which is to collect and recover it on behalf of the Pensions Compensation Board.

In the case of an individual, that penalty must not exceed £1,000.

In the case of any other person, that penalty must not exceed £10,000.

Without prejudice to section 29 of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, so far as anything done under or by virtue of the 1997 Regulations could have been done under or for the purposes of these Regulations, it is to have effect as if it had been so done.