On 23 April 2026, HMRC published their Pension Schemes Newsletter. This updates pension scheme administrators on the latest news for pension schemes and may not be of direct relevance to bookkeepers.
This month’s Newsletter covers the following topics:
- Pension scheme return (PSR) – this details that if administrators receive a notice to file a PSR for tax year 2025/26, this will be pre-populated with information if one was submitted for the 2024/25 tax year;
- Lifetime allowance protection and enhancements reminder – this is a repeat of the March information which told administrators that protections or enhancements must be viewed using the Managing Pension Schemes Service;
- Digitisation of relief at source – this has the acronym DigiRAS and concerns HMRC’s move to digitalise the RAS claims by administrators. This section says that where pension schemes have historically been consolidated under a single reference, administrators must obtain individual scheme (unconsolidated) references and use these for HMRC claims from April 2026, due in May 2026;
- Pension schemes migration to the Managing pension schemes service – this is a reminder to scheme administrators that they must use the new Managing Pension Schemes Service and any that have not must migrate to this to ensure they fulfil their reporting obligations;
- Normal minimum pension age – this section concerns the increase of the normal minimum pension age from 55 to 57 from April 2028. It advises that legislation will provide for transitional protections;
- Pension flexibility statistics – this section details pension flexibility payment claims between 01 January 2026 to 31 March 2026; and
- Registration Statistics – which details that 2,421 applications were made in 2025/26 register new pension schemes, of which 54% were accepted for registration, 33% were rejected and the remainder undecided
For Bookkeepers
Perhaps, the only section of personal interest is that regarding the increase to the normal minimum pension age from April 2028 and the transitional provisions which will only apply to scheme members who have reached age 55 on or before 05 April 2028. The normal minimum pension age is the earliest a member can take benefits from their pension pot.
