RPSM02306050 - Scheme Administrator Pages: Registering a pension scheme with HMRC: Scheme administrator's role in the registration process: Registering a scheme on or after 6 April 2006: how will I know if the scheme has been registered?

Registering a scheme on or after 6 April 2006: how will I know if the scheme has been registered?

As long as the relevant fields are completed and in the correct format online HMRC will register the scheme.

If the application to register the scheme is successful, you will receive a success message letting you know that the scheme is registered, and the 'Acknowledgement of Registration' will be posted on your 'Pensions Noticeboard'. If you provide an e-mail address, you will receive an e-mail message telling you it is there. If you opted for paper notices and reminders as well as electronic ones, you will receive a paper 'Acknowledgement of Registration' in the post, but you will not receive an e-mail to look at your 'Pensions Noticeboard'.

The acknowledgement will state the date from which the scheme is registered. This date will not be retrospective. The scheme qualifies for tax relief from the registration date. Contributions made on or after this date may qualify for tax relief as contributions to a registered pension scheme.

The acknowledgement will also give the Pension Scheme Tax Reference (PSTR) for your scheme that must be quoted in all correspondence - this reference is made up of 8 digits and 2 letters.

If the scheme is registering to become a stakeholder pension scheme, the acknowledgement is not confirmation that stakeholder status has been given, merely that the scheme is registered for tax purposes and qualifies for tax relief. Before the scheme can become a stakeholder pension scheme, the scheme administrator must also

• register with HMRC to operate Relief at Source
• make an application or election to HMRC to contract out of the state second pension and
• apply to the Pensions Regulator for stakeholder registration.