Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Pension scheme definition

What does Pension scheme mean? In legal practice, a pension scheme is an arrangement set up under a trust deed, contract or other instrument to provide retirement income and related benefits to members or their dependants. It pays or secures benefits on retirement, death, on reaching a specified age, on serious ill-health or incapacity, or in similar circumstances. In the UK, “pension scheme” is a statutory term (for example in the Finance Act 2004 and pensions legislation, with parallel Northern Ireland provisions). In Ireland, the Pensions Act 1990 and Revenue rules use comparable concepts. Usage is broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland...

UK registered pension schemes: HMRC registration conditions, application and declarations, scheme administrator requirements, information powers, penalties, appeals and deregistration

Published by a LexisNexis Pensions expert

Practice notes

Benefits of registration

Registering a pension scheme delivers valuable tax reliefs and exemptions for the scheme and its members, including:

tax relief on member contributions up to specified limits
tax relief on employer contributions
no income tax arises on earnings where an employer pays contributions to a registered pension scheme for an employee
certain lump sums on retirement (eg a pension commencement lump sum) or following a member’s death are not subject to income tax, provided conditions are satisfied
most investment income is not liable to income tax
gains realised on disposals of scheme investments are exempt from capital gains tax

Consequently, the vast majority of pension schemes are registered. Occupational schemes that are not registered are treated, for tax purposes, as Employer Financed Retirement Benefit Schemes (EFRBS).

Applications for registration

An application is required to register a pension scheme (unless it was automatically registered on A‑day—for further information, see Practice Note: The pre A‑day pensions tax regime [Archived]). Only the scheme administrator is permitted to submit the application. While a pension scheme can...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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