Pensions Tax Simplification Newsletter No. 16, published today, largely covers administrative matters, but with links also to other recent HMRC announcements on which we reported recently. A newer item is the Meeting Notes from the most recent meeting of the Pensions Industry Working Group (PIWG), on 4 May 2006. At this a number of the industry's frustrations were aired, including difficulty using the online service and the problem of what to do with small residual funds which cannot be trivially commuted but are insufficient to buy a pension. HMRC for its part offered reassurance that it remained committed to providing support and ongoing dialogue with the industry, and that it did not want an incomplete or inefficient regime.

The new trivial commutation rules also continue to frustrate the industry. This Newsletter offers one small relaxation: schemes may deduct the tax using the emergency code on a Month 1 basis rather than a Week 1 basis. This will help where the payroll is set up on a monthly basis.