HMRC publish new draft Pensions Tax Manual

27 March 2015

The new Pensions Tax Manual incorporates guidance on recent legislative changes, including the Taxation of Pensions Act 2014, known as Pension Flexibility.

This new Pensions Tax Manual (PTM) will replace HMRC’s current guidance manual - the Registered Pension Schemes Manual (RPSM).

Since the RPSM was first introduced there have been changes to how HMRC provides guidance covering pension taxation rules. The RPSM currently incorporates four different levels of guidance on the same subject covering technical, member, employer and scheme administrator.

The focus of PTM is on providing technical guidance on the pensions tax rules, but incorporates areas of guidance previously located in the scheme administrator pages.

The PTM will be 16 chapters and unlike the RPSM it will provide just one level of guidance. It will incorporate guidance on Pensions Flexibility, to include reporting requirements and international issues, as well as the recent Annual Allowance Order. The standalone guidance on both asset backed contributions and individual protection 2014 will also be included in the PTM.

HMRC has provided time for stakeholders to provide comments on the PTM – deadline 31 May 2015. A dedicated email address has been set up in order to receive comments and queries [email protected].

When the PTM has been updated following the consultation period the RPSM will be removed from the gov.uk website, but will remain available in its full form on the National Archive site.