Guidance

Newsletter 182 — June 2026

Published 25 June 2026

ID verification for individuals

From 8 May 2026, the ID verification process for individual scheme administrators and practitioners was updated to remove the option to manually enter passport and driving licence details.

Individual scheme administrators and practitioners will need to validate their identity using the GOV.UK ID Check app and provide one of the following forms of photo ID:

• UK photocard driving licence
• UK passport
• non-UK passport with a biometric chip
• UK biometric residence permit (BRP)
• UK biometric residence card (BRC)
• UK Frontier Worker permit (FWP)

Individuals will no longer have the option to enter the details manually for their driving licence or passport when trying to enrol on to the managing pension schemes service.

The process has been updated to prevent the risks of fraud within our identity verification process and to align with UK government and international standards.

Guaranteed minimum pension

On 8 June 2026, HMRC published draft regulations for a technical consultation on guaranteed minimum pension conversion provisions. The draft regulations make amendments to the calculation of pension input amounts where there has been a guaranteed minimum pension conversion made in respect of cash balance and defined benefit arrangements for the purpose of the annual allowance charge.

This consultation closes on 13 July 2026. Replies should be directed to policypensions@hmrc.gov.uk.

Relief at source

Delay to the digitalisation of relief at source (DigiRAS) strategic payments service

In pension schemes newsletter 178 we told you that we aimed to start processing claims through the strategic payment service from summer 2026, however, we now intend to deliver this later in 2026.

We need more time to complete the necessary work before we can introduce the service. We know this will affect planning for some pension scheme administrators and practitioners, and we are sorry for any inconvenience this causes you. We will provide you with a notice of at least one month ahead of the service becoming live.

The new service is part of a wider range of improvements we are making to modernise the administration of relief at source and improve how claims are processed.

We will continue to use the pension schemes newsletter to provide updates and let you know when further information is available.

Interim claims

HMRC has seen a number of recent interim claims below the de minimis limit of £50.

HMRC will not pay interim claims below £50, we refer to this in PTM044220 — Contributions: tax relief for members: methods: relief at source.

Schemes can either submit an interim claim once the amount is above £50 or submit an annual claim.

Use of deconsolidated references for all relief at source claims and adjustments

In pension schemes newsletter 181 we explained that schemes that previously submitted consolidated claims, should use the new relief at source references issued to them by HMRC.

The new relief at source references must be used when submitting interim and annual claims and making adjustments under relief at source. These references enable HMRC to identify and process claims at an individual level, supporting improved accuracy and more efficient processing.

You should use the new references in the following situations:

• historical claims — where you are submitting claims for earlier tax years
• previous years’ adjustments or supplementary claims — where corrections are required to claims already submitted, including adjustments for overclaimed or underclaimed relief
• any scenario requiring claim-level detail — for example, where HMRC needs to trace or validate amounts at a more granular level during compliance or reconciliation activity

Annual return of information — for the 2025 to 2026 tax year, you should submit this under the old, consolidated reference. For following years, you should be submitting this using the new references for each scheme.

If you have any issues, or cannot submit an APSS106 using the new relief at source references then email reliefatsource.administration@hmrc.gov.uk and include ‘APSS106 annual or supplementary claim de-consolidated scheme’ in the title.

Tax relief on employee contributions to registered pension schemes

In the June 2026 issue of the Employer Bulletin, we have clarified the position for employers reporting employee pension contributions to HMRC, due to feedback received from the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG). This sets out guidance on reporting requirements for employers for net pay arrangements and relief at source, to help ensure contributions are being reported correctly.