IR SPSS has announced that from 30 November 2003 paper publication of Pensions Updates will cease. Practitioners will need to access the internet to discover announcements of changes in Revenue practice.
Additionally, SPSS intends to change the nature of Updates, providing guidance in a more general form in future. No longer will Updates append copies of pages changed in the key manuals IR 12 (the Practice Notes) and IR 76 (the Personal Pension Guidance Notes) - or even the revised text of individual paragraphs. Instead, IR 12 and IR 76 will be republished twice a year, incorporating the effect of changes announced via Updates in the preceding period. The timing of this has yet to be decided.
IR SPSS invites suggestions on the contents of their section of the Inland Revenue website, including the delivery of guidance and how this might be improved. Although this issue seems certain to be on the agenda of the next Customer Forum meeting on 20 May, some practical decisions might have to be taken earlier.
Aries comment
The industry is unlikely to be happy about this. The Revenue should distinguish IR 12 and IR 76, as the standard 'Bibles' or 'song-sheets', from other less detailed guidance manuals which are not generally referred to on a daily basis by practitioners , and consequently do not need constant updating. Surely it is vitally important for all concerned - including Revenue examiners - in answering queries to be able to rely upon the same up to date version of Revenue practice. Everyone should feel confident, in quoting the precise wording of extracts from these standard published reference sources, that it accurately states current Revenue practice.