RPSM05400120 - Employer Pages: Contributions and tax relief: Payments to employers: Scheme administration employer payments

Scheme administration employer payments

What is a scheme administration employer payment?

Scheme administration employer payments are payments made by a registered pension scheme that is an occupational pension scheme,

• to or in respect of a sponsoring employer
• for the purposes of administration or management of the scheme.

Examples of scheme administration employer payments could be

• the payments of wages to people involved in administering the scheme, or
• payments made for the purchase of a pension scheme asset.

Payments for the administration or management of the scheme should be made on an arm’s length, commercial basis.

Loans to or in respect of a sponsoring employer are not scheme administration employer payments. There are particular rules for loans to or in respect of sponsoring employers. More information can be found on page RPSM05400130.

See RPSM04102050 for more details about scheme administration employer payments.

How are scheme administration employer payments assessed to tax?

There are no specific provisions for the taxation of scheme administration employer payments, so the normal tax rules will apply to each type of payment. For example, the payment out of a registered pension scheme in respect of a sponsoring employer for the purpose of paying wages to people involved in the administration of the scheme would be taxable as employment income.