Lisa Webster: HMRC school report

The Ofsted grading system has come under scrutiny recently, but despite a report from the cross-party education select committee calling for an end to the simplified grades, the government have confirmed they are here to stay. If the pension industry were to apply the same principal to grade HMRC’s recent work on removing the lifetime allowance, the likely outcome would be “inadequate”. However, like Ofsted grades, this is grossly simplified and doesn’t tell the whole story. I have a certain degree of sympathy for those involved in this project at HMRC. I strongly suspect that the amount of notice they had before the chancellor stood up and stated he was abolishing the lifetime allowance in a little over a year’s time was somewhere between very little and none. It’s clear those in HMRC had no idea of the scale of the work involved, and many working on the project were not familiar with the intricacies of pension legislation. I think I would be more generous and give at least a “good” for effort. There have been clear attempts to engage with the industry, with working groups set up and consultations. There have been frequent communications on the new rules, with newsletters and updated FAQs published regularly. But it has all been very rushed, and not always joined up. On one occasion we had draft handbook guidance and a newsletter issued at the same time that directly contradicted one another. There was simply not enough time to do a decent job and iron out all the wrinkles. The entire industry wanted a delay to get the rules right before implementation, but HMRC had their hands tied by politicians. A month into the new tax year, we still don’t know all the finer details of the rules. We are awaiting a second set of regulations correcting the legislation, and it is highly likely that these won’t be the last. Given that the changes will be retrospective to 6 April 2024 this is far from ideal for clients or advisers alike. With an election looming you could also question whether we’ll finish getting these rules in place and acting as intended before things could potentially all change again. If we do see a new government come in and shake things up, you would hope it wouldn’t be a rushed job. At the start of the political cycle there is time for a more measured approach, and to think through the implications. With time for a proper consultation, rather than giving HMRC a mountain of homework at the last minute, I would hope to see a marked improvement in HMRC’s score. Lisa Webster is senior technical consultant at AJ Bell. She is an economics graduate with over 15 years’ experience in financial services. Prior to joining AJ Bell in May 2014 she spent nine years working in senior technical and consultancy roles at a major SIPP and SSAS provider. She is part of the AJ Bell Technical Team. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Twitter: @lisasippster

Lisa Webster: HMRC school report - could do better

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