Tax and remedy
At a glance
Changing your pension scheme for the remedy period may alter the contributions you should have paid between 2015 and 2022, which can change your taxable income for those years and therefore the amount of income tax you should have paid. It can also change how much your pension grew in certain years, which may create a new annual allowance charge or mean you are due compensation.
Understanding tax implications
Personal tax and remedy
If, as a result of remedy, you elect to change where your benefits are paid from for the remedy period, there may also be a change to contributions that you should have paid for that period of time. This is known as a contribution adjustment – you can read about this in the contribution adjustment section.
The contribution adjustment will be calculated to reflect the tax relief that you get on pension contributions, but it may also have an impact on your personal tax position for those years.
At the point you choose to make your contribution adjustment, it may increase or decrease the taxable income that would have applied, if the correct contributions had been paid at the time. The years in question cover 2015/16 to 2021/22.
Your contribution adjustment will be adjusted for tax relief, based on the tax information that your scheme manager holds for you. You may need to check that the tax relief given is correct and whether a recalculation is required in some circumstances, such as in cases where you received income other than your police salary or police pension during the remedy period.
If you are affected by any of this, or other broader tax issues, you may need to consider making a claim to your scheme manager for compensation. Find out more about compensation claims in the compensation section of this website.
Limits on what you can build up
Pensions tax and remedy
There are some limits set by the government about how much pension you can build up each year, and over your lifetime, without receiving a tax charge.
If you already have benefits in payment and you change your benefits for the remedy period, you will be changing the amount of pension you built up over these years which may change whether you are impacted by these allowances.
If you have not yet retired you will have been rolled back to your relevant legacy scheme for the remedy period, this will have changed the amount of pension you built up over these years which may change whether you are impacted by these allowances.
A new or increased tax charge will only apply to the following ‘in scope’ tax years:
- 2019/20
- 2020/21
- 2021/22
- 2022/23
A reduced tax charge will apply to all of the tax years in the remedy period 2015/16 to 2022/23.
Who can help?
Suggested tax advisers for pensions tax
This list shows some advisers recommended by staff associations. You do not have to use an adviser from this list, or at all, when submitting information about your pension tax.
| Advisor/Provider | Type of Advisor/Provider | Contact details |
|---|---|---|
| Amber River True Bearing | Chartered Financial Planners |
|
| Bailey Oster | Chartered Accountants |
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| Chris Bibb Independent Financial Advice Ltd | Independent Financial Adviser |
|
| Isio | Pensions Tax Specialist |
|
| John Scott Davidson Ltd | Chartered Financial Planners |
|
| Khon Cougar |
|
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| KPMG | Tax and Pension Specialist | |
| Leonherman | Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors |
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| McAuley Financial Ltd | Independent Financial Adviser |
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| Reflect Financial | Independent Financial Adviser |
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