Pensions Tax Simplification Newsletter 30

12 October 2007

Contents

Introduction

Welcome to the thirtieth edition of the Newsletter. This edition is published to coincide with the introduction of mandatory electronic filing on 16 October 2007 (e-filing), and provides information on what does and does not have to be filed electronically, and some other items we hope you'll find useful over the next few months.

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

E-mandation

Over the last few months we have been urging Scheme Administrators to make sure they are ready for the introduction of mandatory e-filing for pension schemes from 16 October 2007, as well as reminding them of their roles and filing obligations (PDF 58K).

The decision to introduce e-mandation was publicly announced in April 2007. With the date for the introduction for mandatory e-filing now upon us Scheme Administrators should be ready.

Although the last date for submitting papers returns is 15 October, because of the current postal dispute we are aware of the adverse impact this may have on customers for the delivery of papers forms before the deadline of the 15th October. We have therefore outlined below our plans to deal with this issue.

Newsletter No 27, published on 10 April, confirmed that it will be mandatory for Scheme Administrators of registered pension schemes (this may include some employers and individual directors) 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.

Prescribed format for e-filing

The various e-mandated forms are required to be submitted in the prescribed format.

This means that for reports or returns where the total size of the submission is less than 23.8Mb then they must be sent using Pension Schemes Online, either via our free online pension schemes product or using third party software.

Reports or returns where the total size of the submission is greater than 23.8Mb, should be made using a CD in the specified form. The CD must include all the information from the relevant process in the same format as the relevant schema. The CD may not be provided on a CD-RW and it must be 'closed' after completion so that it may not be overwritten or amended. A separate declaration (including the Scheme Administrator details) should be completed and signed by the Scheme Administrator on paper after the CD has been 'closed'. CD submissions may not be made in any other circumstances.

Event Reports containing up to 60,000 events and Pension Scheme Returns containing up to 30,000 supplementary pages should be within the 23.8Mb limit.

Filing information online

To submit information online, Scheme Administrators (or practitioners acting on their behalf) must register with our Pension Schemes Online service. It can take up to seven working days to activate a new account - as some information has to be sent by post. This is done to verify your identity.

We recommend that you if you haven't already done so, you register to use Pension Schemes Online as soon as possible and, if practicable, before the month of January 2008. Registering before January will be helpful as the HMRC online services are extremely busy throughout this month. Early registration will ensure that you are ready to use Pension Schemes Online in advance of any filing deadlines.

E-mandation does not include an obligation to register to use the online service by a particular date. However the sooner you register, the sooner you can start using Pension Schemes Online.

Our Pension Schemes Online service allows you to file your forms and returns using either

  • Our free online Pension Schemes product, go to our homepage and select 'Pension Schemes' under 'Do it online', or
  • Third Party internet filing enabled software.

If you need further help or advice on using Pensions Schemes Online, we have recently produced a new Guide to using the online service (PDF 149K). We hope that users find the revised guide an improved and helpful aid to using the online service.

Forms that will become obsolete and must be filed online from 16 October

From 16 October 2007, the following forms must be completed and submitted electronically.
Form Description
APSS 100 Pension Scheme Tax Registration
APSS 100 (Insert 1)
Supplementary page to Q6 of APSS 100
APSS 108 Declaration as a Scheme Administrator of a deferred annuity contract scheme
APSS 151 Add Scheme Administrator for second and subsequent notifications of pre-A day Scheme Administrators or for any post-A day Scheme Administrators
APSS 160 Cessation of Scheme Administrator
APSS 300 Event Report (and supplementary pages)
APSS 301 Registered Pension Scheme Return for Occupational Pension Schemes
APSS 302 Accounting for Tax by Scheme Administrator (including inserts 1 and 2)
APSS 313 Registered Pension Scheme Return for Non-Occupational Pension

From 16 October, if you try to file one of these forms on a paper return, it will be deemed as not received and returned to you for filing online. Also any forms which are received before 15 October 2007, but are rejected by Pension Schemes Services as incomplete/incorrect will also have to be resubmitted by 15 October or will need to be filed online.

If you are required to file a report or return and fail to do so or file late this may result in a penalty.

A full list of all Pension Schemes Services forms (PDF K) including those that may still be filed in paper format can now be viewed.

Form APSS151

You will see from the above list that the APSS 151 for adding a Scheme Administrator has been e-mandated for second and subsequent notifications of pre-A day Scheme Administrators or for any post-A day Scheme Administrators. If you are adding a Scheme Administrator to the scheme for the first time and they had this role at A day then this can be filed online or you can you use the new paper version of the APSS 151.

Service Availability for Pension Schemes Online

The Service Availability page on the HMRC website provides advanced notification of work taking place that will affect the availability of Pension Schemes Online.

The Pension Schemes Online Service issues page also gives information about issues that customers are experiencing with the online service and provides information on how these are being dealt with.

Please check these pages on a regular basis, especially around the time of filing deadlines, to ensure that you are able to file online on time.

You may wish to be aware that planned maintenance work will be taking place on Pension Schemes Online during the last few days of October 2007. You will not be able to register to use the system or file any information during that time. Further details will be published closer to the time on the Service Availability page.

Current Postal Dispute

If you have completed and posted a paper form before 16th October, we will accept it as validly made even if it is received after that date if it has been held up by delays arising from the planned postal dispute. We will, of course, be keeping track of the length of delays actually caused by the strike.

Forthcoming filing deadlines

 
Form / Return Filing Deadlines
AFT for Quarter 2 - 1 July to 30 September 14 November 2007
Pension Scheme Return (if you have been issued with a notice)
Event Report
Self Assessment Return (paper only) (not all schemes need to file this return)
31 January 2008
AFT for Quarter 3 - 1 October to 31 December 14 February 2008
AFT for Quarter 4 - 1 January to 31 March 15 May 2008

Customers who have difficulty accessing or using a computer

Mandatory electronic filing will apply to all registered pension schemes. We understand that there may be some Scheme Administrators who do not have daily access to a computer. Customers can use computers with internet access at most public libraries and the Government has produced a guide on how to safely use public computers at Get Safe Online. Individuals should go to section 2 of the 'knowledge base' from the homepage, then choose the link under 'more tips & advice' and then select 'use public computers carefully'.

Customers can also request form APSS 161 (PDF 59K) to complete the initial stage of registration for Pension Schemes Online by post rather than through the Government Gateway. This will remove one of the online stages in the process. However, it will increase the time it takes to receive a Scheme Administrator ID.

And of course a pension Scheme Administrator can appoint a practitioner to act on their behalf who will be able to file the information reports and returns.

Notifying HMRC of a scheme wind up before 6 April 2006

If a scheme had completed winding up before 6 April 2006, it would not have become a registered pension scheme at A-day. Where the winding up of such a scheme has not yet been reported to HMRC, you can provide details of the name of the scheme and date winding up was completed in writing. This can be done using form PS 199 (PDF 63K). You don't have to submit an 'Event Report', whether on paper (before 16 October 2007) or electronically.

Notifying HMRC of a scheme wind up where there is no longer a Scheme Administrator

In most cases, it will be clear who is the Scheme Administrator of a scheme (and therefore who needs to register to use and make returns and reports via the online service). We have been asked to clarify the position in relation to certain schemes undergoing winding up.

Schemes in existence before 6 April 2006

Any scheme which was an approved scheme before 6 April 2006 and did not opt out of the new regime automatically became a registered pension scheme. The person who was the administrator of the scheme on 5 April 2006 became the Scheme Administrator for the purposes of the new regime,

Occupational schemes in wind up

In many small occupational pension schemes the employer is the trustee and Scheme Administrator. If an employer goes into administration or liquidation, this raises questions as to who is responsible for carrying out the duties of the Scheme Administrator. One of these responsibilities is to notify HMRC of the winding up of a registered scheme within 3 months of the completion of winding up.

Whilst an employer is in administration or liquidation the administrator or liquidator stands in the shoes of the employer. So where the employer is the Scheme Administrator, the administrator or liquidator is responsible for reporting the scheme wind up to HMRC.

Where the employer has ceased to exist and there is no longer a Scheme Administrator there is a default mechanism set out in the legislation for who becomes responsible for carrying out the obligation of the Scheme Administrator.

Section 272 FA 04 sets out an order of priority for who takes on the responsibilities should there be no Scheme Administrator. The order of priority is set out below. You cannot move down the order of priority unless the person specified under the previous bullet point cannot be traced or has defaulted on their liability.

  • any UK resident trustee(s) of the pension scheme - so if for example the scheme trustees consisted of the employer and a professional trustee but only the employer was the Scheme Administrator, the professional trustee would become responsible for the duties and liabilities
  • any person(s) who controls the management of the pension scheme
  • any person who established the pension scheme, or their successor
  • if an occupational pension scheme, any employer whose employees are being provided with benefits under the scheme
  • any trustee(s) of the scheme who is not resident in the UK.

Further information on what happens if there is no Scheme Administrator can be found at RPSM02302060.

Prevention of duplicate schemes records

Once you have set yourself up as a Scheme Administrator on Pension Schemes Online you will need the pension scheme reference number to add yourself to a particular scheme on the system. If the scheme in question was set up before A-day, you will need to enter the full SF reference. The SF reference is in the following format:

3 numeric characters/6 numeric characters/6 numeric characters/1 alpha check digit

It is important that you include the final check letter at the end, otherwise a new duplicate record for the scheme will be created.

If you do not have the full SF reference number including the check digit, you must contact the pensions helpline in Nottingham on 0115 974 1600 who will be able to confirm the correct number for you.

Further help and information

For links to further information that Scheme Administrators and practitioners may find useful in connection with mandatory e-filing from 16 October and assistance in using the HMRC online service for pensions; Pension Schemes Online now has a dedicated page within the HMRC pension WebPages, with e-filing FAQs that have been updated.

For further information on the online services offered by HMRC contact the Online Services helpline on 0845 6055 999.

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