| 1 | Finance Act 2011: pensions provisions: a quick guide A quick guide to the pensions-related provisions enacted in the Finance Act 2011, with links to more detailed PLC resources. | Practice note: overview | Maintained |
| 2 | Increase in minimum pension age: a quick guide A quick guide to the increase in normal minimum pension age, which came into effect on 6 April 2010. | Practice note: overview | Maintained |
| 3 | Pensions tax: overview This practice note gives an overview of the current tax regime for occupational and personal pension schemes, reflecting the simplification measures that were introduced on 6 April 2006. The note summarises the main rules applying to registered pension schemes, including the annual allowance, the lifetime allowance, the availability of tax relief on contributions or accruals and HMRC's requirements for authorised pensions and lump sums. Details are also given of charges levied by HMRC on unauthorised payments. | Practice note: overview | Maintained |
| 4 | Tax appeals: overview of tribunal system This note is an overview of the new tax tribunal system which came into effect on 1 April 2009, replacing the VAT and Duties Tribunal, the Special Commissioners and the General Commissioners. | Practice note: overview | Maintained |
| 5 | Asset-backed pension contributions: overview This overview note explains the legal background to the implementation of an asset-backed funding structure, which can be used by trustees and employers of occupational pension schemes to use assets as an alternative to cash funding. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 6 | Disguised remuneration legislation: impact on pension ... This note considers the impact on UK pension arrangements of Part 7A of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, which was introduced by the Finance Act 2011 with effect from 6 April 2011. Announced in the June 2010 Budget, the legislation targets so-called "disguised remuneration" arrangements set up for the purposes of avoiding, deferring or reducing liabilities to income tax and National Insurance contributions or avoiding restrictions on pensions tax relief. The note looks at the effect on employer-financed retirement benefit schemes and considers the scope of the various statutory exclusions. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 7 | Drawdown pension arrangements This note examines the new drawdown pension options available to members of money purchase pension arrangements since the start of the 2011/12 tax year. As well as considering the requirements for capped and flexible drawdown, the note covers the tax treatment of death benefits paid when an individual with a drawdown pension arrangement dies and looks at whether defined benefit (DB) schemes might want to introduce partial drawdown options for members with money purchase benefits. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 8 | Finance Act 2009: pensions provisions This practice note considers the pensions-related provisions in the Finance Act 2009. The most significant measures related to the then government's plans to restrict pensions tax relief for high-income individuals. These have since been overhauled by the coalition government following the 2010 General Election. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 9 | Finance Bill 2013: pensions provisions This note examines the provisions in the Finance Bill 2013 that relate to occupational and personal pensions. Among other things, the Bill will reduce the annual and lifetime allowances for pension saving from the 2014/15 tax year and introduce transitional protection (known as fixed protection 2014) for individuals affected by the reduction in the lifetime allowance. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 10 | Income tax: anti-avoidance and secondary liability This note is a general summary of the anti-avoidance rules applying for the purposes of UK income tax and the situations in which one person may be liable for income tax primarily chargeable to another person. It also provides links to notes describing other aspects of the UK income tax rules, such as how income is taxed and exemptions from income tax. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 11 | Key topics citator A "reverse" citator setting out the main legislative provisions, regulatory materials, leading cases and determinations of the Pensions Ombudsman for some key topics in occupational pensions. Links are also included to the main PLC Pensions materials available for each topic. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 12 | New money laundering regulations: pension trustees need not ... Following publication by HMRC of the final version of its long-awaited MLR 9 guidance, it is now clear that trustees of occupational pension schemes are not expected to register with HMRC under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007. This includes professional trustee companies and directors of trustee companies. | Practice notes | 07-Aug-2008 |
| 13 | Paying an annual allowance charge: "scheme pays" ... This note examines the "scheme pays" mechanism introduced by the Finance Act 2011. A member that incurs an annual allowance charge from 2011/12 can ask his scheme to pay the charge on his behalf in certain circumstances and make a corresponding reduction to his scheme benefits. The note looks at the circumstances when "scheme pays" will apply, the timings involved and how schemes are likely to go about reducing benefits. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 14 | Pensions accounting for employers: issues and trends This practice note examines issues for employers in pensions accounting matters, including trends that were identified from a KPMG survey of around 200 companies that reported from 31 December 2004 to 31 December 2006. | Practice notes | 07-Jun-2006 |
| 15 | Pensions issues for internationally mobile employees This practice note considers the tax regime under the Finance Act 2004 for internationally mobile employees that have a pensions connection with the UK. The note looks at the positions of both UK-based employees who are members of foreign pension plans and non-UK employed members of UK registered pension schemes, as well as covering tax charges that arise on non-UK schemes, transfers to qualifying recognised overseas schemes (QROPS), and the taxable property provisions introduced by the Finance Act 2006. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 16 | Pensions tax: authorised lump-sum payments This practice note examines the various lump-sum benefits that registered pension schemes can provide as authorised payments. Among other areas, the note covers the rules relating to payment of pension commencement lump sums (including a checklist of qualifying criteria), trivial commutation lump sums, winding-up lump sums and serious-ill-health lump sums as well as the various forms of lump-sum death benefits payable after a member has died. The note reflects changes to these rules introduced from 6 April 2011 by the Finance Act 2011. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 17 | Pensions tax: authorised pension payments This practice note examines the various pension benefits (including death benefits) that registered pension schemes can provide as authorised payments. The note considers the rules relating to scheme pensions, lifetime annuities and drawdown pensions for both members and their dependants. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 18 | Pensions tax: fixed protection and new 2014 protections from ... This practice note considers the transitional relief that was made available when the lifetime allowance for pension saving was reduced from £1.8 million to £1.5 million in 2012. It addresses the requirements that had to be satisfied in order to register for fixed protection from a lifetime allowance charge, describes a further form of fixed protection announced at the 2012 Autumn Statement (to be known as fixed protection 2014) and provides details of a form of personalised protection which is currently being developed. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 19 | Pensions tax: relaxing the requirements to take benefits by ... This note summarises the legislation introduced by the Finance Act 2011 (FA 2011) that has abolished annuitisation requirements and other rules that previously obliged members of registered pension schemes to take their benefits by age 75. As well as looking briefly at the new flexible and capped drawdown regimes, the note considers the new provisions concerning the tax treatment of lump sums and death benefits payable by registered pension schemes. The changes have taken effect from 6 April 2011. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 20 | Pensions tax: transitional protection This practice note considers the transitional relief in the pensions tax regime which protects the rights that members of registered pension schemes built up before 6 April 2006. Specific areas covered include primary protection, enhanced protection, protected pension ages for those wishing to draw their benefits before age 55, lump sums exceeding 25% of the lifetime allowance and five-year lump-sum guarantees. The note also refers briefly to the fixed protection regime introduced by the Finance Act 2011, together with the new "fixed protection 2014" announced at the 2012 Autumn Statement. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 21 | Reducing the annual and lifetime allowances for pension ... This note examines the coalition government's measures to restrict the availability of tax relief on pension saving by reducing the annual and lifetime allowances. As well as looking at the circumstances in which an annual allowance charge is triggered, the note highlights some key practical issues for trustees and employers, including the obligation to provide pension savings statements to members. The note also refers to the announcement of further reductions to the annual and lifetime allowances made at the 2012 Autumn Statement to take effect from the 2014/15 tax year. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 22 | Restricting pensions tax relief: anti-forestalling measures This practice note considers the anti-forestalling measures implemented by the previous government in the Finance Act 2009 in advance of its abortive plans to restrict tax relief on pension saving for high-income individuals. The anti-forestalling measures only applied to pensions tax relief claimed in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 tax years. | Practice notes | Maintained |
| 23 | Restricting pensions tax relief: Labour government's plans This practice note provides a record of the previous government's plans to restrict the availability of tax relief for pension saving by high-income individuals from 6 April 2011. On 14 October 2010, the coalition government announced its intention to proceed with an alternative approach (see Practice note, Reducing the annual and lifetime allowances for pension saving). | Practice notes | 06-May-2010 |
| 24 | Salary sacrifice arrangements This practice note is a guide to the use of salary and bonus sacrifice arrangements. | Practice notes | Maintained |