Guidance

Manage and Register Pension Schemes service newsletter – December 2018

Published 11 December 2018

Additional feature from 11 December 2018

We’ve added an additional feature so that from the 11 December 2018 if you stop being a scheme administrator for a pension scheme on the Manage and Register Pension Schemes service, you can remove yourself from that scheme on the service. You can only do this if there’s another scheme administrator added to the scheme on the service.

We’ve updated our GOV.UK guide Manage a registered pension scheme with information about this.

If you stop being the scheme administrator for a scheme on the Pension Schemes Online service, you can find guidance on how to remove yourself as scheme administrator in the Pension Schemes Online: user guide.

Features added on 13 November 2018

We told you in Pension Schemes Newsletter 104 that we’d be adding new features to our Manage and Register Pension Schemes service and you’d be able to use the service to:

• view the details of your scheme(s)
• view your details as scheme administrator
• invite other scheme administrators to be associated to your scheme
• accept an invitation from another scheme administrator to be associated to a pension scheme

We’ve updated our guidance on GOV.UK to reflect the changes. You can find more information on this in the Manage a registered pension scheme guide.

Features we’ll add in March 2019

We’re continuing to develop the service and we’ll include additional features in March 2019 so that you can:

• update some of your scheme administrator details
• amend some of your scheme details
• de-enrol from the service if you’ve stopped being a scheme administrator

We’ll give you updates on this work in future Pensions Schemes Newsletters and we’ll update our GOV.UK guidance once the additional features are available on the service.

Reporting for schemes registered on the Manage and Register Pension Schemes service

Accounting for Tax

In Pension Schemes Newsletter 104 we told you that we’ll be introducing pension scheme reporting on the Manage and Register Pension Scheme service when we deliver the second phase of the service in 2019.

So if your scheme was registered using the Manage and Register Pension Schemes service you will not be able to file an accounting for tax (AFT) return for that scheme online.

Instead you should email pensions.administration@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk with:

• the scheme name
• the Pension Scheme Tax Reference (this will start with a ‘2’)
• the charge types that you need to report
• your contact details

You should put ‘Manage and Register Pension Schemes service - AFT’ in the subject line of your email. We’ll reply and let you know how to file this information.

As we continue to develop the service we’ll add new features and this will include pension scheme reporting in 2019. We’ll keep you updated through our pension schemes newsletters.

Scheme wind up

You can also contact us if you need to wind up a scheme that was registered using the Manage and Register Pension Schemes service. Email pensions.administration@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and put ‘Manage and Register Pension Schemes service – winding up’ in the subject line of your email and provide the following information:

• the scheme name
• the Pension Scheme Tax Reference (this will start with a ‘2’)
• the date of scheme wind up
• your contact details

User research

We know that this is a busy time of year for scheme administrators and practitioners as you’re compiling, checking and submitting your pension scheme annual returns and reports. However we’d really like to talk to you if you can help out with user research on filing pension scheme reports and returns. It’s a really good opportunity for us to understand how you complete and submit your reports to help inform the design and development of the reporting features that we’ll be including on the service over the coming year.

We also want to get a better understanding of the interactions between scheme administrators and practitioners so that we can factor these in as we’re building the new service.

We’d like to speak to:

• pension scheme practitioners who carry out administrative duties on behalf of pension scheme administrators
• scheme administrators who have used the Government Gateway to assign services to other people in your company
• pension scheme administrators and practitioners who compile and complete accounting for tax returns, pension scheme returns and event reports

If you can help us with our user research on the design and development of the service, email us at: pensions.businessdelivery@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and put ‘Manage and Register Pension Schemes service – user research’ in the subject line of your email.

Registering as a scheme administrator for pension schemes registered before 4 June 2018

We’re sorry that some scheme administrators who contacted us to register as a scheme administrator for a scheme registered before 4 June 2018, have been unable to complete the registration process online.

If this has happened to you and you have not already heard from us, email pensionschemes@hmrc.gov.uk with your:

• scheme administrator ID
• email address
• telephone number

We’re aware of this issue and we’re working to fix this as soon as possible. Once we’ve resolved this we’ll contact you with guidance on how to complete your registration online.

Further help and information

You can find more information in our GOV.UK guides Apply to register a pension scheme, Register as a pension scheme administrator, Manage a registered pension scheme.

We’ll give you more information and help in our business as usual Pension Schemes Newsletters and we’ll publish further bespoke newsletters about the Manage and Register Pension Schemes service when we add features onto the service.

We’ll also continue to update our GOV.UK guides and the Pensions Tax Manual.

If you have any questions or concerns about the Manage and Register Pension Schemes service, email pensions.businessdelivery@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and put ‘Manage and Register Pension Schemes’ in the subject line of your email.

The information and timelines we’ve provided in this newsletter are correct at the time of publication. However, as you’ll appreciate we’re still developing the new service so we’ll tell you if there are any changes as soon as possible.