Under an unfunded unapproved retirement benefits scheme, an employee and their employer had agreed that a pension of £85,000 a year would be paid. Instead, a lump sum of £1.4m was paid to the employee
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A UK-domiciled taxpayer worked in Australia for many years, but has returned to the UK. He has an Australian pension fund, which is not subject to tax in Australia but is in the UK
John Mander Pension Scheme Trustees Ltd v CRC, Court of Appeal
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HMRC are offering a service to allow pension scheme administrators and trustees to reconcile their own membership data with the tax department's record, in advance of the ending of contracting-out in April 2016.
The new offering provides a list of contracted out periods and guaranteed minimum pension data for members who have left contracted-out employment, including early leavers, pensioners, widows, widowers and surviving civil partners.
The service will provide information from April 2014, but requests for data can be made immediately.
HMRC have launched an online service for overseas scheme managers and UK scheme administrators of qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS).
Users of the new offering can notify the Revenue that a scheme is a recognised overseas arrangement, and report payments made out of funds received from a UK pension scheme.
The system also allows managers to notify tax officials of fund value, change to details or status, and additional information required for schemes that were formerly QROPS.
HMRC have confirmed that taxpayers in Scotland with benefit from an income tax break on their pensions at the local rate.
The announcement follows work between the department and pensions industry to identify ways to deliver Scottish basic rate relief through the relief-at-source (RAS) process.
The Scottish rate of income tax (SRIT) is expected to be implemented in April 2016, after being introduced in the Scotland Act 2012.
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HMRC have made changes to the processes for pension registration and transfers between schemes. The new set up, which is effective from this month, is aimed at deterring pension liberation and safeguarding retirement savings.
The registration process is to move away from a ‘process now, check later’ approach, meaning registration will no longer be confirmed on successful submission of an online form.