Pensions Tax Simplification Newsletter No 27

10 April 2007

Contents

Introduction

Welcome to this special edition of the Newsletter. This newsletter will help explain the new processes that come into force on 6 April 2007 for pension schemes and provide information about mandatory electronic filing for pension schemes.

Please pass this Newsletter on to anyone else in your organisation who you think may find it useful.

Mandatory electronic filing of information with HMRC (e-mandation)

An announcement will be made on 13 April 2007 in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes that it will be mandatory for pension schemes to file the following information electronically and in the prescribed format from 16 October 2007.

  • An application to register a pension scheme
  • A Registered Pension Scheme Return
  • An Accounting for Tax Return
  • A Scheme Administrator's Declaration
  • An Event Report
  • Notification of Winding-up a Registered Pension Scheme
  • Notification of Termination of a Scheme Administrator's Appointment.

It will not be mandatory to file the SA970 - Self Assessment Return for Pension Schemes, electronically.

We have compiled a list of questions and answers relating to the subject of emandation that you may find useful.

How do Scheme Administrators and Practitioners provide information electronically?

You will need to register for the online service. Newsletter 20, published on 6 October 2006, provided guidance on how to register to use Pension Schemes Online.

To help you to complete your registration for the service and provide guidance on how to navigate your way around the system, we have produced an additional step by step guide.

New forms and processes available

Newsletter 24 provided information about the following new forms and processes and changes to existing ones that were introduced on 6 April 2007:-

  • Register a new pension scheme
  • Event report
  • Notices for Registered Pension Scheme Returns
  • Notices for audited accounts

To support these new forms and processes, additional functionality has been added to Pension Schemes Online and you can now file the Event Report and the Registered Pension Scheme Return online.

HMRC's free software for the Event Report will allow the report to be built up over the year by a number of users. For example, if there is more than one Scheme Administrator, all of them will be able to view and add events to the report whilst it is being built up. It will also allow more than one Practitioner to view and add events to it providing they are authorised.

The register a new pension scheme form has also been updated to accommodate new questions introduced as a result of changes included in Finance Act 2006.

Frequently Asked Questions relating to the new forms and notices introduced on 6 April 2007

We have produced a series of frequently asked questions relating to:

We hope these will help answer many of the questions you may have relating to these subjects. Select the link above to the series of questions you would like information on.

Guidance for Scheme Administrators

We appreciate that there are a number of Scheme Administrators who may need help understanding their responsibilities since the introduction of the new pension regime. With this in mind, we have recently created a web page on our internet site specifically designed to raise awareness about the role of the Scheme Administrator. The page provides key facts about the role of the Scheme Administrator and also provides a link to the information previously mentioned in this newsletter about getting started online and navigating pension schemes online. Use the link below to access the internet page for Scheme Administrators. You can also find further guidance in the Scheme Administrator pages of the Registered Pension Schemes Manual.

Pension Schemes Online - let us know your views

We recognise that listening and responding to customer needs is vital for the successful development of our online services and we would like to hear your views about your Pension Schemes Online experience.

With this in mind and in order to make it quick and easy for you to tell us what you think, we have produced and added a pension's scheme feedback form to the Pension Schemes Online service. The feedback form can be accessed from the 'logout page' each time you use our online Pension Schemes product. It presents a series of statements, which you can simply agree or disagree with and there is a free text field for you to make further comments if you wish. Whilst we encourage you to tell us when something isn't right and/or how you think something can be improved, we also like to know what we are doing well.

Although we cannot reply to feedback given in this way, our online services 'Customer Feedback Team' will review your comments and if appropriate will use them to assist in the development of, and enhancements to our online service.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about anything to do with new tax rules and you can't find the answer in the Registered Pension Schemes Manual, please contact us by e-mail or phone our helpline number 0115 974 1600 (9.00 to 17.00 Monday to Friday) or you can write to us at:

Pension Schemes Services (PSS)
Yorke House
Castle Meadow Road
Nottingham
NG2 1BG