Guidance

Newsletter 179 — March 2026

Published 26 March 2026

UK-Luxembourg Double Taxation Agreement — changes affecting some pension payments

A new double taxation agreement between the UK and Luxembourg changes how some UK pension payments to people living in Luxembourg are taxed.

Under the new double taxation agreement, UK pension payments to some Luxembourg residents may become taxed in the UK instead of Luxembourg.

The new agreement includes transitional rules. These let individuals elect to be taxed under the previous double taxation agreement on an ongoing basis. The deadline for making this election is November 2026. Individuals can make this election by contacting HMRC by post or telephone:

Pay As You Earn and Self Assessment
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AS
United Kingdom

Telephone: 0300 200 3300

For outside the UK: +44 135 535 9022

From April 2026, HMRC will start applying the UK’s taxing rights. We will do this by changing individuals’ tax codes and requiring pension schemes to operate PAYE.

What pension schemes need to do

If HMRC issues new tax codes, you will need to update the tax codes and operate PAYE.

You do not need to provide tax advice but you may want to tell affected members that guidance will be available on GOV.UK in the future. This guidance will explain what the change means and what individuals need to do.

If you have any questions, email taxtreaty.team@hmrc.gov.uk.

UK resident pension scheme administrators

In pension schemes newsletter 164 — October 2024 we explained that the government announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 that, from 6 April 2026, all pension scheme administrators of a UK registered pension scheme will need to be UK resident.

Pension schemes newsletter 177 — January 2026 gives more information on:

• what the change means for existing non-UK pension scheme administrators
• the action HMRC may take if a registered pension scheme does not have a UK-resident pension scheme administrator from 6 April 2026

Managing pension scheme services downtime

Because of the UK resident pension scheme administrator changes, we need to take the managing pension schemes service offline for a few days.

You will not be able to access the service from 7pm on Thursday 2 April 2026 to 9am on Tuesday 7 April 2026.

Lifetime allowance protection and enhancements

Members protections and enhancements — redirection

In pension schemes newsletter 178 — February 2026, we told you the protection look-up service is now available on the managing pension schemes service.

You can no longer check your members’ protections or enhancements through the unauthenticated online route.

The Check a pension scheme member’s protections and enhancements online service is now closed and you will be redirected to sign in through the managing pension schemes service. 

Update any saved shortcuts for the Check a pension scheme member’s protections and enhancements online service.

Read more about checking a pension scheme member’s protected allowance and enhanced protection for further guidance.

Digitalisation of Relief at source

In pension schemes newsletter 178 — February 2026, we explained that the time between submitting a claim to receiving a payment will remain as it is now, until we introduce the strategic payment service. We aim to deliver these changes in summer 2026.

From April 2026, you will need to provide the Pension Scheme Tax Reference and Pension Scheme Administrator ID when submitting an interim or monthly claim.

We are updating the APSS105 and APSS106 forms to reflect this change.