The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy Bi-Monthly Newsletter – September 2016
Pensions Industry Stakeholder Forum minutes 1 September 2016
The minutes from the meeting the latest Pensions Industry Stakeholder Forum have been made available.
Highlighted below are some points from the meeting.
Registered Pension Schemes Manual (RPSM) In paragraph 103 of these minutes, there's an action point to circulate a link to the RPSM currently held on the National Archive website. Here is a link to the index page - from here you can look at different versions of the RPSM. Pensions Tax Manual There was one outstanding action point from the last meeting, for HMRC to confirm to the Forum whether the Pensions Tax Manual will have a contents search function. The chair confirmed that the manual does have a contents search function and that an update on the Pensions Tax Manual would be given at Agenda Item 4. Sending attachments to Pension Schemes Services In paragraph 108 a point was raised about being unable to submit queries with attachments to Pension Schemes Services using the online pro forma. For information customers who can't use the online pro forma because they need to submit queries with attachments can email these to pensionschemes@hmrc.gov.uk .
Other topics under discussion were:
Lifetime allowance Annual allowance Raising technical pension queries with HMRC
View the Pensions Industry Stakeholder Forum Minutes from the meeting held on 15 April 2016.
Consultation on introducing a Pensions Advice Allowance 5 September 2016
The Pensions Advice Allowance is due to come into force from April 2017, and will allow people nearing retirement to take up to £500 out of their defined contribution pension pot tax-free, to put towards the cost of financial advice. The tax-free amount would be in addition to the tax free lump sum available when benefits are ultimately taken. The allowance would be available before the age of 55.
The government has launched a public consultation on the allowance which seeks views on specific details including the eligibility age and how best to promote awareness of the allowance.
The Pensions Advice Allowance was first announced in Budget 2016 after a recommendation from the Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR), which suggested that high quality financial advice can have a significant impact on retirement incomes if received early. The government also announced in Budget 2016 that it would increase the tax exemption for employer arranged pensions advice from £150 to £500, and remove a cliff edge that meant that if an employer spent more than £150 on advice, the whole amount became taxable. It is possible that the tax exemption for employer arranged advice could be used in conjunction with the Pensions Advice Allowance, to give people access to up to £1,000 of tax advantaged financial advice. Both measures are expected to come into force from April 2017.
The consultation closes on 26 October 2016.
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