Guidance

Newsletter 181 — May 2026

Published 28 May 2026

Notification of the withdrawal of the pension schemes online service

The pension schemes online service is being withdrawn and will no longer be available from April 2027. As the date of closure approaches there may be service limitations that cause disruption to scheme administration. For this reason, and because we do not yet know the precise date of closure or any service limitations, you should migrate all open pension schemes by 31 December 2026.

Pension scheme administrators have been able to migrate their schemes since April 2022 and while most have already started migration, action is now required to complete it.

We will let you know the exact date of closure in due course, alongside more information on what this will mean for actions you currently undertake on the pension schemes online service. In the meantime, you need to take action to migrate any open pension schemes as soon as possible.

If a scheme needs to be wound up, pension scheme administrators must follow the guidance in pension schemes newsletter 180.

To support you, a migration overview video is available on YouTube.

Act now to ensure your schemes remain compliant before the pension schemes online service closes.

Inheritance Tax on pensions

From April 2027, changes to how Inheritance Tax applies to pensions will come into effect. These changes were announced at Autumn Budget 2024 and will affect how unused pension funds and certain death benefits are treated for Inheritance Tax purposes.

On 11 May 2026, the government published a technical note regarding upcoming changes. The technical note, informed by feedback from industry stakeholders, provides further detail on how the legislation will operate in practice for personal representatives, pension scheme administrators and beneficiaries, and outlines the proposed approach to information-sharing and tax collection.

On 18 May 2026, the government also launched a consultation on the draft secondary legislation on changes to the information sharing regulations in connection with Inheritance Tax on pensions. This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 11 June 2026, replies should be directed to ihtonpensions@hmrc.gov.uk.

Over the coming year, we will continue to use the pension schemes newsletter to:

• highlight what you need to be aware of as implementation approaches
• signpost guidance and support when it becomes available

Relief at source

In pension schemes newsletter 179 — March 2026, we advised that we would be updating the interim claim form (APSS105) and the annual claim form (APSS106) to include the Pension Scheme Tax Reference and the pension scheme administrator ID.

The forms have now been updated. If you have the previous version of the forms saved, you will need to make sure you are using the updated version when you make any future submissions.

If the incorrect form is submitted, the claim will be rejected.

Deconsolidated relief at source references

In pension schemes newsletter 172 — August 2025, we explained that HMRC had worked with schemes that previously submitted consolidated claims to issue new relief at source references to be used for the 2026 to 2027 tax year onwards.

All monthly or interim and annual claims relating to contributions made from 6 April 2026 onwards must be made under the new relief at source references.

When submitting your annual return of information for the 2025 to 2026 tax year, you should submit this under the old, consolidated reference. The annual return of information for following years should be submitted using the de-consolidated references for each scheme.

Annual return of information for 2025 to 2026

We want to remind you that the deadline for submitting the 2025 to 2026 annual return of information is 5 July 2026. If you do not submit this on time, it may delay:

• payment of interim claims for the tax month ending 5 July 2026
• payment of any claims for subsequent months until we receive your annual return of information

You must make sure you submit the APSS590 annual return of information declaration with your annual return of information, as this forms part of your return. Without it, your return will fail processing.

You can either:

• send the APSS590 annual return of information declaration by post to the address given on the form
• email the APSS590 annual return of information to reliefatsource.administration@hmrc.gov.uk and put ‘APSS590 Annual return of information declaration’ in the subject line

If you submit your annual return of information but it fails processing, we will:

• still consider this to be outstanding
• stop any subsequent interim repayment claims until we receive a resubmission

If failure occurs on the third submission, we will stop all future interim claims until we receive a resubmission that is considered successful.

You can only submit your 2025 to 2026 annual return of information through the secure data exchange service.

Strategic payment service — processing timelines

HMRC is continuing work to transition to a new strategic payment service as part of ongoing improvements to pension scheme administration.

At present, HMRC normally issues payments around the 21st of each month or the next working day after the 21st, subject to claims being processed and approved.

The introduction of the strategic payment service means payments will no longer fall into this date pattern. Instead, they will be processed in line with other pension queries and claims, in order of receipt, with HMRC aiming to process 80% within 15 working days.

Some claims may take longer to process where additional checks are required or where information is missing.

The strategic payment service is planned to be introduced in summer 2026. HMRC will provide as much notice and detail as possible through this newsletter once the implementation date is confirmed.

What you should do

To help avoid delays, pension scheme administrators should ensure relief at source claims are submitted:

• using the correct references
• with complete and accurate information
• in line with current guidance — Information requirements for pension schemes — GOV.UK

Further updates will continue to be provided through the HMRC Pensions schemes newsletter.