Cessation of temporary SCONs

26 January 2015

A reminder that if you operate a Contracted Out Pension Scheme and the SCON is not correct on your FPS, from April 2015 it will be rejected.

HMRC issued a reminder in their December 2014 Employer Bulletin regarding the withdrawal of the temporary Scheme Contracting-out Number (SCON).

The Bulletin reiterates that the temporary SCON will not be available for use from April 2015 and that employers must start recording the correct SCON that refers to the scheme that the individual is currently a member of. This can be found on the Contracting-out certificate or by contacting your Pension Scheme administrator. If the SCON is not correct then the Full Payment Submission (FPS) will be rejected.

If you have not started to use the correct SCON by 15 December 2014, you will have received a GNS message as a further reminder that you must take action to start recording the correct SCON. You will also receive the GNS message each time you make a subsequent submission using the temporary SCON.

If you do not have a contracted-out pension scheme you should leave the SCON field blank. If you are prompted for a SCON you should make sure you are using the correct National Insurance contribution category letter for your employee.

Payroll bureau or agent members should be aware that some of their customers may receive the new notification, and this may generate queries to customer support lines.

Any employers who are satisfied that the temporary SCON was not used on their last submission but who nevertheless receive a GNS message, should notify HMRC at [email protected].