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United Kingdom Statutory Instruments |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Statutory Instruments >> The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (General Levy) Regulations 2005 No. 626 URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/legis/num_reg/2005/20050626.html |
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| Made | 9th March 2005 | ||
| Laid before Parliament | 11th March 2005 | ||
| Coming into force | 1st April 2005 |
| 1. | Citation, commencement and extent |
| 2. | Interpretation |
| 3. | The general levy |
| 4. | Payment of the general levy |
| 5. | The reference day |
| 6. | Amount of the general levy: occupational pension schemes |
| 7. | Amount of the general levy: personal pension schemes |
| 8. | Waiver |
| 9. | Multi-employer schemes |
| 10. | Avoidance of double liability: schemes in Northern Ireland |
| 11. | Levies under earlier regulations remaining unpaid |
| 12. | Penalties |
| 13. | Revocation and savings |
but does not include a person the only entitlement in respect of whom is to benefits payable on his death;
(2) These Regulations do not apply to any scheme which is a Republic of Ireland scheme within the meaning of the Occupational Pension Schemes (Republic of Ireland Schemes Exemption) Regulations 2000[4].
The general levy
3.
- (1) The trustees of each registrable occupational pension scheme are liable to pay a levy to the Secretary of State for the purpose of meeting the expenditure referred to in section 175(1) of the 1993 Act, except for expenditure of the Regulatory Authority in connection with its functions in relation to schemes within paragraph (2).
(2) The trustees of each registrable personal pension scheme are liable to pay a levy to the Secretary of State for the purpose of meeting the expenditure referred to in section 175(1) of the 1993 Act, except for expenditure of the Regulatory Authority in connection with its functions in relation to schemes within paragraph (1).
(3) The general levy is payable in respect of each financial year.
(4) But no levy is payable under paragraph (1) or (2) in relation to a scheme in respect of the financial year beginning with 1st April 2005 if the scheme became a registrable scheme (within the meaning of regulation 1(2) of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Levy) Regulations 1997[5]) in the financial year beginning with 1st April 2004.
(5) The general levy payable in respect of the financial year in which the scheme in relation to which the levy is payable becomes registrable is reduced to the appropriate fraction of the amount that would be payable if the scheme were registrable for the whole of the financial year.
(6) In paragraph (5) "the appropriate fraction" means the fraction the numerator of which is the number of days in the financial year when the scheme is a registrable scheme, and the denominator of which is 365 or, if the financial year ends in a leap year, 366.
(7) Until the amendment made by section 239(3) of the 2004 Act (categories of pension schemes) takes effect -
Payment of the general levy
4.
- (1) The general levy is to be sent to the Regulatory Authority which is to collect and recover it on behalf of the Secretary of State.
(2) The general levy in respect of a financial year is payable in advance on the first day of that year, unless paragraph (4) applies.
(3) No additional levy or refund of levy is payable in respect of any change taking place during the financial year for which the general levy is payable (including a scheme ceasing to be a registrable scheme), unless regulation 8 applies.
(4) The general levy payable in respect of the financial year in which the scheme in relation to which the levy is payable becomes registrable is payable in arrears on the first day of the following financial year.
The reference day
5.
- (1) The amount of the general levy payable for a financial year in respect of a scheme is calculated by reference to the number of the scheme's members on the reference day.
(2) The general rule is that the reference day for a scheme is the last day of the scheme year which ended before the beginning of the previous financial year.
(3) But if the scheme -
the reference day is the date on which the scheme becomes a registrable scheme.
Amount of the general levy: occupational pension schemes
6.
- (1) The amount of the general levy payable for a financial year by virtue of regulation 3(1) in respect of a scheme with the number of members on the reference day that is specified in column 1 of the table in paragraph (2) is -
(2) This is the table -
| Number of members on the reference day | Amount of levy calculated by reference to number of members (M) | Minimum amount of levy |
| 2 to 11 | £24 | |
| 12 to 99 | £2.50 x M | |
| 100 to 999 | £1.80 x M | £250 |
| 1,000 to 4,999 | £1.40 x M | £1,800 |
| 5,000 to 9,999 | £1.06 x M | £7,000 |
| 10,000 or more | £0.74 x M | £10,600 |
(2) This is the table -
| Number of members on the reference day | Amount of levy calculated by reference to number of members (M) | Minimum amount of levy |
| 2 to 11 | £10.40 | |
| 12 to 99 | £1.00 x M | |
| 100 to 999 | £0.70 x M | £100 |
| 1,000 to 4,999 | £0.60 x M | £700 |
| 5,000 to 9,999 | £0.40 x M | £3,000 |
| 10,000 or more | £0.30 x M | £4,000 |
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) an employer is insolvent if an insolvency event has occurred in relation to him.
(3) Section 121 of the 2004 Act (insolvency event, insolvency date and insolvency practitioner) applies for the interpretation of paragraph (2) as it applies for the interpretation of Part 2 of that Act.
Multi-employer schemes
9.
- (1) If -
the provisions of these regulations (apart from this regulation) apply as if each section of the scheme were a separate scheme.
(2) Condition A is that contributions payable to the scheme by an employer, or by a member in employment under that employer, are allocated to that employer's section (or, if more than one section applies to the employer, to the section which is appropriate in respect of the employment in question).
(3) Condition B is that a specified part or proportion of the assets of the scheme is attributable to each section and cannot be used for the purposes of any other section.
(4) For the purposes of paragraph (1), any provisions of the scheme by virtue of which contributions or transfers of assets may be made to make provision for death benefits are disregarded.
(5) But if paragraph (1) applies and, by virtue of any provisions of the scheme, contributions or transfers of assets to make provision for death benefits are made to a section ("the death benefits section") the assets of which may only be applied for the provision of death benefits, the death benefits section is also to be treated as a separate scheme.
(6) For the purpose of this regulation, any provisions of the scheme by virtue of which assets attributable to one section may on the winding up of the scheme or a section be used for the purposes of another section are disregarded.
Avoidance of double liability: schemes in Northern Ireland
10.
- (1) This regulation applies if, apart from paragraph (2), the general levy would be payable in respect of a scheme in respect of which a corresponding Northern Ireland levy is imposed.
(2) The general levy is only imposed in respect of that scheme if the address of the scheme is in Great Britain.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1) a levy is a corresponding Northern Ireland levy if it is imposed under any equivalent provision to section 175 of the 1993 Act and regulation 3.
(4) For the purposes of paragraph (2) the address of the scheme is the place in the United Kingdom at which the management of the scheme is conducted or, if there is more than one such place, the principal place.
Levies under earlier regulations remaining unpaid
11.
- (1) If a levy for which any person was liable under regulation 2 of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Levy) Regulations 1997 immediately before 1st April 2005 has not been paid in full before that date, that person must pay the outstanding amount to the Regulatory Authority and they are to collect and recover it on behalf of the Secretary of State.
(2) If a levy for which any person was liable under regulation 5 of those Regulations immediately before that date has not been paid in full before that date, that person must pay the outstanding amount to the Regulatory Authority and they are to collect and recover it on behalf of the Compensation Board.
Penalties
12.
- (1) If any person fails without reasonable cause to comply with the requirement -
the Regulatory Authority may require that person to pay a penalty within 28 days.
(2) In the case of an individual, that penalty must not exceed £1,000.
(3) In the case of any other person, that penalty must not exceed £10,000.
Revocation and savings
13.
- (1) The Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Levy) Regulations 1997 are revoked (but subject to regulation 11 and paragraph (2)).
(2) Without prejudice to sections 17 and 23 of the Interpretation Act 1978[6], so far as anything done under or by virtue of those Regulations could have been done under or for the purposes of these Regulations, it is to have effect as if it had been so done.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Malcolm Wicks
Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions
9th March 2005
[2] 2004 c.35. See section 185 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 which provides that the Secretary of State must consult such persons as he may consider appropriate before making regulations for the purposes of section 175 of that Act. This duty does not apply where regulations are made before the end of six months beginning with the coming into force of any enactment upon which the regulations are consequential.back
[3] Section 101B was inserted by section 37 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30).back
