2018 No. 5
Income Tax

The Registered Pension Schemes and Overseas Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018

Made
Laid before the House of Commons
Coming into force
The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 169(4), (4A) and (8), 251 and 282(A1) of the Finance Act 20041, and now exercisable by them2.

Citation, commencement and effect

1.

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Registered Pension Schemes and Overseas Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 and come into force on 30th January 2018.

(2)

The amendments in regulation 3 have effect for the tax year 2018-19 and subsequent years.

(3)

The amendments in regulations 4, 5 and 7 have effect for the tax year 2017-18 and subsequent tax years.

Amendments to the Registered Pension Schemes (Provision of Information) Regulations 2006

2.

The Registered Pension Schemes (Provision of Information) Regulations 20063 are amended as follows.

3.

In regulation 3 (provision of information by scheme administrator to the Commissioners)—

(a)

in the table in paragraph (1), after entry 20 insert—

“20A. Master Trust scheme

The scheme becomes, or ceases to be, a Master Trust scheme within the meaning of section 1 of the Pension Schemes Act 20174

The fact of the change and the date on which the change took effect.”

(b)

after paragraph (7) insert—

“(8)

An event report in respect of reportable event 20A must be delivered within 30 days of the event”.

4.

In regulation 14ZA(3)(b) (information provided to member by scheme administrator where it appears member may be first flexibly accessing pension rights)5 for “£10,000”, in both places, substitute “£4,000”.

5.

In Regulation 14A (annual allowance: annual provision of information by scheme administrator to member)6—

(a)

in paragraph (9) Condition E for “£10,000” substitute “£4,000”,

(b)

in paragraph (10)(d) for “£10,000” substitute “£4,000”,

(c)

for paragraph (10)(e) substitute —

“(e)

(i)

the unadjusted alternative allowance for each of the three preceding tax years, and the fact that the member’s money purchase input sub-total for each of those preceding years will be tested against—

(aa)

a £4,000 allowance for the tax year 2017-18 and subsequent years,

(bb)

a £10,000 allowance for the tax year 2016-17, or

(ii)

if any of those preceding years is the tax year 2014-15 or earlier, the annual allowance for that year, and”.

Amendments to the Pension Schemes (Information Requirements for Qualifying Overseas Pension Schemes, Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes and Corresponding Relief) Regulations 2006

6.

The Pension Schemes (Information Requirements for Qualifying Overseas Pension Schemes, Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes and Corresponding Relief) Regulations 20067 are amended as follows.

7.

In Regulation 3AA(3)(b) (information provided to member of QROPS or former QROPS by scheme manager where it appears member may be first flexibly accessing pension rights)8 for “£10,000”, in both places, substitute “£4,000”.
Melissa Tatton
Penny Ciniewicz
Two of the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make amendments to the Registered Pension Schemes (Provision of Information) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/567); and the Pension Schemes (Information Requirements for Qualifying Overseas Pension Schemes, Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Schemes and Corresponding Relief) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/208).

S.I. 2006/567 and S.I. 2006/208 specify the requirements for the provision of information by persons such as scheme administrators of registered pension schemes and scheme managers of overseas pension schemes under Part 4 of the Finance Act 2004 (c. 12.)

Regulation 1 states when these Regulations come into force and specifies the dates from which the various amendments take effect.

Regulation 3 inserts a new entry in the table in regulation 3(1) of S.I. 2006/567 (provision of information by scheme administrator to HM Revenue and Customs) to provide for a reportable event when a scheme becomes, or ceases to be, a Master Trust scheme. Regulation 3 also specifies the time limit for providing the new information required to HMRC.

The amendments made by Regulations 4, 5 and 7 are consequential on the amendments to Part 4 of the Finance Act 2004 made by section 7 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2017 (c. 32) which reduce the level of the money purchase annual allowance from £10,000 to £4,000, with effect from 6 April 2017.

Regulation 1(3) provides that the amendments made by regulations 4 to 7 have effect for the tax year 2017-18 and subsequent years. Power to make legislation with retrospective effect is contained in section 282(A1) of the Finance Act 2004, which allows regulations made under Part 4 of that Act to include provision having effect in relation to times before they were made if the provision does not increase any person’s liability to tax.

A Tax Information and Impact Note covering regulation 3 was published on 13 September 2017 and is available on the government website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pensions-tax-registration/pensions-tax-registration. It remains an accurate summary of the impacts that apply to those regulations.

A Tax Information and Impact Note covering the changes to the money purchase annual allowance was published on 8 March 2017 and is available on the government website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reducing-the-money-purchase-annual-allowance. It remains an accurate summary of the impacts that apply to this instrument.