The Finance Bill 2021
The Finance Bill has been published and includes some Pensions Tax Amendments. The Bill provides for a number of pension related amendments to implement some of the recommendations for the Interdepartmental Pensions Reform and Taxation Group. It will provide for the full removal of the Approved Minimum Retirement Fund (AMRF) requirement for individuals availing of the Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) option and retirement and the transfer of current AMRF funds to an ARF for existing ARF holders. The Bill will also provide that for death-in-service pensions, the ARF option will be available as an alternative to the compulsory purchase of annuities. The Bill will also remove the prohibition on transfers from an occupational pension scheme to a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) for members with more than 15 years’ service. These measures contribute towards the simplification and harmonisation agenda in relation to the pensions’ landscape. The Bill will provide for a technical amendment regarding relief for pension contributions made by an employer to occupational pensions schemes set up for employees of another company in certain defined circumstances – for example, company re-organisations, joint ventures or other group arrangements. The Bill can be accessed using this link.
IAPF Defined Benefit Survey 2021
We have published the 2021 IAPF Defined Benefit Survey. The key findings are:
• Schemes increasingly focused on investment de-risking
• Most schemes closed to new members and, increasingly, schemes are also closing to future accrual
• Likely that changing maturity profile will lead to consideration of additional risk reduction measures including liability settlement
• All schemes expect to be in existence for at least 10 years with most expecting to be in place for more than 20 years
You can read all the results here.