HMRC has published their latest Pension Scheme newsletter (171 July 2025). This is aimed at pension scheme administrators, not bookkeepers who are responsible for the collection, reporting and remittance of pension contributions.
ICB recognises the information may not be relevant to members, although we highlight the following topics:
- Following the UK Budget in October 2024, HMRC published a consultation seeking views on the administrative proposal to make pension scheme administrators responsible for reporting and paying any Inheritance Tax due on pensions to HMRC. The newsletter advises that a response was published on Legislation Day together with draft legislation;
- The second section concerns how pension scheme administrators will be able to use the Managing Pension Schemes service to check members’ current lifetime allowance protection, a migration from the current service. When this is live later in 2025, the current service will not be available;
- The 05 July deadline for scheme administrators to submit their annual return of Relief at Source information for 2024/25 has passed. However, HMRC advise that there are still some returns outstanding. If the pension scheme has not submitted a return, HMRC will withhold tax relief payments for tax year 2025/26 (assuming the scheme has submitted interim repayment claims);
- The fourth section concerns the migration of schemes to the above Managing Pension Schemes and advises that scheme administrators and practitioners must now use this. For information, see the ‘Migrating your pension scheme to the Managing Pension Schemes service’ guidance and the YouTube video;
- The next section provides statistics on the number of Income Tax repayment claim forms HMRC have processed for pension flexibility payments for the period 01 April 2025 to 30 June 2025;
- The final section provides statistics on the number of fund transfers to Qualifying Overseas Pension Schemes for tax year 2024/25
For Bookkeepers
Do note that this publication is designed for pension scheme administrators, not bookkeepers. However, we continue to highlight the publication as it may contain information which is useful personally or professionally.
