BHS majority shareholder ordered to pay £87,000 for failing to give information to Pensions Regulator 26 February 2018
The director and majority shareholder of the company that bought BHS for £1 has been ordered to pay more than £87,000 for failing to hand over information to The Pensions Regulator (TPR).
Dominic Chappell failed to provide information that TPR had required him to supply as part of its investigation into the sale and then collapse of BHS, using powers under section 72 of the Pensions Act 2004.
He also failed to provide TPR with information about a possible unauthorised disclosure of restricted material. Chappell had pleaded not guilty to three charges of neglecting or refusing to provide information and documents without a reasonable excuse, but was convicted of all the charges after a trial in January.
At Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on 23 February, District Judge Gary Lucie ordered Chappell to pay a £50,000 fine, £37,000 costs and a £170 victim surcharge.
Judge Lucie said: “The court must send a message to those in senior positions that refusal to answer questions under section 72 will not be tolerated. The law is there for a purpose and it must be enforced. There is a complete lack of remorse on Mr Chappell’s part.”
The case is the fifth criminal conviction secured by TPR against individuals or organisations for failing to comply with section 72 notices.
The full details are available in TPR’s press release .
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HMRC’s pension taxation 6 March 2018
Henry Tapper, founder of Pension Playpen, writes about the unfairness of the new 19% Scottish taxpayer receiving 20% relief at source and the low earners in net pay schemes receiving 0% rather than 20% - recently highlighted in HMRC’s Pension schemes newsletter . And not to mention the auto-enrolment contribution increases, which he believes, do not give low earners an incentive to save.
Henry has written a Blog highlighting the different rules that HMRC has created. He writes:
“Members of pension schemes who get pension tax relief through the ‘net pay’ mechanism have their pension contributions deducted before income tax is applied to their pay, so only pay tax on what’s left. Pension tax relief on these contributions will continue to be given by default at members’ marginal rate of tax, including the new and newly increased Scottish rates. If you are the administrator of a pension scheme using the relief at source mechanism, you will continue to claim tax relief at the rate of 20% for members who are Scottish taxpayers. For pension scheme members who are Scottish taxpayers liable to income tax at no more than the Scottish starter rate of 19%, or who pay no tax, current tax rules will continue to apply. This means that scheme administrators will continue to claim relief at 20% in respect of these individuals, and HMRC will not recover the difference between the Scottish starter and Scottish basic rate. Pension scheme members who are Scottish taxpayers liable to income tax at the Scottish intermediate rate of 21% will be entitled to claim the additional 1% relief due on some or all of their contributions above the 20% tax relief paid to their scheme administrators. These pension scheme members will be able to claim the additional relief for 2018 to 2019 by contacting HMRC if they don’t already complete Self-Assessment returns, or through their return if they do. HMRC will engage with stakeholders to help affected members claim this additional tax relief. Pension scheme members who are Scottish taxpayers liable to income tax at the Scottish higher rate (41%) and Scottish top rate (46%) will be able to claim additional relief on their contributions up to their marginal rate of tax in the usual way, either in their Self-Assessment tax return or if they don’t complete a tax return by contacting HMRC.”
He goes on to say:
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
Page 477 of 516
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