Chapter PTM153000
| Published date | 27 March 2015 |
| Record Number | PTM153000 |
| Court | HM Revenue & Customs |
| Glossary | PTM000001 |
Sections 153(5)(g) and 158(zb) Finance Act 2004
All the persons that make up the scheme administrator must be a fit and proper person to be a pension scheme administrator. HMRC can refuse to register a pension scheme if it appears that any person who makes up the scheme administrator is not a fit and proper person. HMRC can also de-register a scheme if it appears that one of the persons who make up the scheme administrator is not a fit and proper person. This requirement applies to all scheme administrators, whenever they were appointed.
HMRC assumes that all persons appointed as scheme administrators are fit and proper persons unless HMRC holds information, or obtains information, which calls that assumption into question.
Factors that HMRC may take into account when considering if a scheme administrator is a fit and proper person
HMRC will not confirm the fit and proper status of a scheme administrator
HMRC enquiries into fit and proper status
More than one person can make up the role of the scheme administrator. Where several persons act jointly as the scheme administrator, the fit and proper person criteria apply to all those persons. Where the scheme administrator is or includes a corporate body, HMRC will consider whether the directors or those controlling the management of the body are fit and proper persons.
Factors that may lead to HMRC deciding that the scheme administrator is not a fit and proper person include, but are not limited to, where it appears to HMRC that the scheme administrator:
- does not have sufficient working knowledge of the pensions and pensions tax legislation to be fully aware and capable of assuming the significant duties and liabilities of the scheme administrator, or does not employ an advisor with this knowledge;
- has previously been involved in pension liberation;
- has previously been the scheme administrator of, or otherwise involved with, a pension scheme which has been de-registered by HMRC;
- has been involved in tax fraud, abuse of tax repayment systems or other fraudulent behaviour including misrepresentation and/or identity theft;
- has a criminal conviction relating to finance, corporate bodies or dishonesty;
- has been the subject of adverse civil proceedings relating to finance, corporate bodies or dishonesty/misconduct;
- has participated in or been connected with designing and/or marketing...
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