NHS Pension Annual Allowance – Figures For Carry Forward? – Hot Topics Q & A

Q. I am concerned that I may have exceeeded the pensions annual allowance of £50,000 in the tax year 2011/12. I am aware of the ‘carry forward’ facility that will enable me to use up unused allowance (assuming there is any) in the previous 3 years.

How can I obtain the necessary figures for the previous years so that I can calculate how much unused allowance is available?

A. We put this question to the NHS Pensions Agency and this is the response we received. As you can see, it will be some time until members will be able to calculate the figures accurately.

NHS Pensions will provide an annual allowance statement to members who are over the annual allowance in the NHS Pension Scheme.

However, NHS Pensions may not be in a position to do this until the summer of 2013, and in the meantime members are responsible for ascertaining their tax position and reporting any tax due to HMRC.

Members will also be responsible for adding any other pension savings they have, to work out their overall annual allowance usage, and for calculating any tax due and for any payment due to HM Revenue and Customs.

NHS Pensions will deliver annual allowance statements automatically in the summer of 2013, in relation to the scheme years 2011/12 and 2012/13, provided all information, including accurate pensionable pay and hours information, has been provided by the relevant employer.

The automatic statement will contain details of the amount of annual allowance used (known as the “pension input amount”) for the year in question, and for the preceding 3 years.  It will also show the annual allowance amount for each year in question.

NHS Pensions is not currently able to provide information in relation to the reduced annual allowance for 2011/12 or in relation to the associated ‘carry back’ years of 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11.

HMRC have given all scheme administrators extra time in which to gear up their systems to provide the statements. Administrators have until 6 October 2013 to provide statements in relation to 2011/12 and 2012/13.