HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
Aggregate Returns from Personal Pension Scheme Providers
Personal pension scheme providers are required to submit statistical reports to HMRC in conjunction with claims for tax repayment. The reports relate to all personal (including stakeholder) pensions; there is no comparable source of information on occupational pensions as tax relief is given at source. The current format of the reports dates from April 2001, when stakeholder pensions were introduced and there were changes in the way tax relief was given for other personal pensions. The information reported is the total of contributions received into all personal pension schemes administered by the provider submitting the return, broken down by the following dimensions:
- Personal pension or stakeholder pension
- Employer sponsored scheme, non-employer sponsored scheme or free standing AVC scheme. Employer sponsored schemes include group personal pensions, contracts within a scheme set up under trust by an employer, and contracts for members of stakeholder pension schemes nominated by employers
- Contracted out or not contracted out of the State Second Pension
- Contributions received from employers, from individuals, and minimum contributions (i.e. the rebate from the National Insurance Fund). The amounts reported are only new contributions from individuals or employees, not transfers from other pension administrators. The data reported on contributions from individuals is net of tax relief. Figures for the basic rate tax relief repaid to providers are obtained from HMRC administrative sources and added to the published statistics.
Data are also provided on the number of members contributing in the relevant time period within each category. There may be some overstatement in aggregating these numbers as individuals may contribute to non-contracted out schemes administered by more than one provider in any one year. However, individuals are not allowed to belong to more than one contracted out scheme in a year.
Member level data from Personal Pension Scheme providers
Since April 2001, all personal (including stakeholder) pension providers have been obliged to supply HMRC with 'Third Party Information' i.e., details of individuals transacting personal pensions business with them. The information is required primarily to ensure compliance with the tax regime but will also be used for analysis in HMRC, including linking to the Survey of Personal Incomes sample which has information on income of the individual. The data covers all individuals purchasing personal or stakeholder pensions, whether employed, employees or not in the labour force. The data items available are:
- Contributions from individuals, gross of tax relief
- Contributions from employers
- National Insurance rebates
- Accumulated value of fund at the fund valuation date nearest to the end of the tax year. The fund value will reflect all monies, assets and investments held for the member on the date
- Identifying details for the individual, including gender, date of birth and National Insurance number
- Labour force status of the individual.
Prior to April 2001, the Third Party Information was more restricted - it covered employees only as the
self-employed claimed relief via their tax return and only data on contributions was submitted, not
balances.
See pensions tables on the HMRC website
This page last revised: Monday, 19 September 2005
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