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Money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) meaning

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What does Money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) mean?
The money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) is the reduced cap on tax-relieved contributions to defined contribution (money purchase) pensions that applies once an individual flexibly accesses their UK registered pension. It is a statutory concept under the Finance Act 2004 and HMRC guidance. The MPAA is permanently triggered by, among other events, taking an uncrystallised funds pension lump sum (UFPLS) or drawing income under flexi-access drawdown. It is not triggered by taking only a pension commencement lump sum (tax-free cash) with no income, or by taking small-pots lump sums. Once triggered, the MPAA applies for life. There are statutory notification duties on schemes and members when it is triggered. Amounts: £10,000 from 6 April 2015; reduced to £4,000 from 6 April 2017; increased to £10,000 from 6 April 2023. Effect: money purchase contributions are limited to the MPAA and cannot be increased by carry-forward. Defined benefit accrual remains subject to a separate alternative annual allowance, which broadly equals the individual’s standard (and, if relevant, tapered) annual allowance less any money purchase input in the year (up to a maximum of the standard allowance minus the MPAA). The MPAA applies in England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It does not apply in...
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View the related Practice Notes about Money purchase annual allowance (MPAA)

PRACTICE NOTES
UK pensions tax: annual allowance (standard, tapered and MPAA), calculations and charges, carry forward, pension input periods, Scheme Pays, deferred member carve-out, and 2015/16 transitional rules

FORTHCOMING DEVELOPMENT : Under section 10 of the Finance Act 2022, the normal minimum pension age (NMPA) is set to rise from 55 to 57 with effect from 6 April 2028, excluding members of the public service schemes for firefighters, police and the armed forces. It also introduces a right for members of registered pension arrangements to access benefits before 57 where, on or before 4 November 2021, they already held an ‘unqualified right’ to do so, or were actively transferring to a scheme that, by that date, offered an unqualified right to a protected pension age below 57. To rely on this 2028 protection, the scheme’s rules must have, as at 11 February 2021, conferred an unqualified right to draw scheme benefits before age 57. For more detail, see Practice Note: Increasing the normal minimum pension age (NMPA) to 57—pensions impact...

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PRACTICE NOTES
UK pensions taxation: lawyers' guide to registered and unregistered schemes, covering contributions, allowances (2024 reforms), investment taxation, employer relief, VAT, benefits and death benefits, unauthorised payments, refunds and GMP equalisation.

Broadly speaking, tax applies to UK registered pension schemes in three different areas: the tax treatment of member and employer contributions, including any repayment of member contributions the tax treatment of assets held by the scheme, including the investment returns generated by those assets the tax treatment of benefits paid out by the scheme Where an individual participates in more than one registered scheme, the contributions paid to—and the benefits received from—each arrangement are combined and considered together when establishing that person’s overall tax liability. This Practice Note concerns registered private sector pension schemes. Public sector pension schemes are predominantly governed by separate legislation. Their tax position is broadly similar, though not invariably the same, as that which applies to registered private pension schemes...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Pensions glossary for family and matrimonial finance lawyers: schemes, tax reliefs, state pension, auto-enrolment, offsetting, PPF, valuation, drawdown and post-2024 lifetime allowance changes

A-day 'A-day' is the widely used term for the broad pension tax 'simplification' reforms that began on 6 April 2006. The changes covered: how much pension contribution was allowed, the kinds of schemes an individual could invest in, the sums that could be taken (and when), and the choices available for any remaining fund. A-day also introduced the annual allowance and the (now abolished) lifetime allowance. See: Annual allowance and Lifetime allowance. AFPS AFPS: Armed forces pension scheme; see Practice Note: Public sector pensions and family proceedings. Accrual rate The speed at which pension benefits build as pensionable service is completed in a final salary scheme, eg 1/60 for each year of pensionable service. Accrued benefits The benefits earned in respect of service up to a specified date. Added years Extra pension provided by adding further years of pensionable service in a salary-related scheme. Such additional years are secured via transfer payments or through additional voluntary contributions/augmentation...

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