Pensions Tax Simplification
Newsletter No 6
11 November 2005
Online filing
Contents
2. Pension Schemes online – timing and content of releases
3. Postponement of mandatory online filing
4. Test service for third party software
1. Introduction
This additional Pensions Tax Simplification Newsletter has been issued to help our customers understand the impact of the statement made by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 11th November. He announced that the requirement for registered pension schemes to submit reports and returns of information online to HMRC will be postponed by at least 6 months following the start of the new tax regime.
2. Pension Schemes online – timing and content of releases
Following a review of the progress being made on the development of Pension Schemes Online and an exercise with representatives of the Pensions Industry Working Group and our IT supplier to prioritise delivery of the online service we have decided to reduce the scope of the first release in April 2006 and to add a number of additional releases over the course of the first year. This will involve a ‘just in time’ delivery of online functions, so that they generally become available when they are first needed. This will ensure that scheme administrators and practitioners will still be able to meet the majority of their statutory filing and reporting requirements online.
In the first release at the beginning of April 2006 we will provide for online registration of a pension scheme for tax relief purposes and also for scheme administrators and practitioners to carry out pre-registration, registration, authorisation and maintenance of scheme administrator and practitioner details.
Later releases will provide the facility for online filing of accounting for tax returns, event reports and other returns of information.
Further details of these releases will be provided in due course.
By April 2007 the remainder of the functionality for Pensions Schemes Online will be available and will include the online submission of the pension scheme return.
3. Postponement of mandatory online filing
Whilst scheme administrators will still be able to carry out nearly all of their legislative requirements online from April 2006, the exception will be for the small number of schemes that wind up after A Day, where there is a requirement to send in an event report within 3 months.. We will now be offering flexibility over an interim period to enable the filing of this report and all other returns and reports of information, including registration of new pension schemes, by paper for a period of at least 6 months from 6 April 2006. This deferral of the introduction of mandatory online filing has been made in order to help scheme administrators given that the full range of facilities will not be available at A Day. Where the online functionality is available this will provide a quicker and more efficient service than one that is based on paper processes.
4.Test service for third party software
The first release of the test service in February 2006 will enable software developers to test their systems against what will be available from Pension Schemes Online from April 2006. Whilst this will not initially encompass the full functionality of the new online service, there will be further releases of the test service that will support the remaining releases of Pension Schemes Online.
Further discussions with the pensions industry
We recognise that the industry will want to consider the impact of these changes on their plans for A Day, and we will be working closely with the Pensions Industry Working Group to understand where difficulties lie and to lend support where we can.
5. Questions and Answers
further questions and answers
6. Contact us
If you have any questions about anything to do with Pension Tax Simplification please contact our helpline number 0115 974 1600 or 0115 974 1777 (9.00 to 17.00 Monday to Friday)
If you have any comments about our newsletters then please contact:
Paul Cottis
Audit & Pension Schemes Services
Yorke House
Castle Meadow Road
Nottingham
NG2 1BG
0115 974 1692
