Finance Act 2004

22(1)This paragraph applies in relation to a registered pension scheme and a member of the pension scheme if—U.K.

(a)the pension scheme is a protected pension scheme, and

(b)the retirement condition is met in relation to the member and the pension scheme.

(2)A pension scheme is a protected pension scheme if condition A or condition B is met.

(3)Condition A is met if—

(a)the pension scheme was within any of paragraphs (a) to (e) of paragraph 1(1), and

(b)the entitlement condition is met in relation to the member and the pension scheme.

(4)The entitlement condition is met in relation to the member and the pension scheme if—

(a)on 5th April 2006 the member had an actual or prospective right under the pension scheme to [F1any benefit] from an age of less than 55,

(b)the rules of the pension scheme on 10th December 2003 included provision conferring such a right on some or all of the persons who were then members of the pension scheme, and

(c)such a right either was then conferred on the member or would have been had the member been a member of the scheme on that date.

(5)Condition B is met if the member is a member of the pension scheme [F2(“a transferee pension scheme”) as a result of—

(a)a block transfer from the pension scheme (“the original pension scheme”) in relation to which condition A is met to the transferee pension scheme, or

(b)a block transfer to the transferee pension scheme from a pension scheme that was a transferee pension scheme in relation to the original pension scheme by virtue of the previous application of paragraph (a) or the previous application (on one or more occasions) of this paragraph.]

(6)A transfer is a block transfer if—

(a)it involves the transfer in a single transaction of all the sums and assets held for the purposes of, or representing accrued rights under, the arrangements under the pension scheme from which the transfer is made which relate to the member and at least one other member of that pension scheme, and

[F3(b)either the member was not a member of the pension scheme to which the transfer is made before the transfer or he has been a member of that pension scheme for no longer than such period as is prescribed by regulations made by the Board of Inland Revenue.]

[F4(6A)A transfer is also a block transfer if—

(a)it involves the transfer in a single transaction of all the sums and assets held for the purposes of, or representing accrued rights under, the arrangements under the pension scheme from which the transfer is made which relate to the member,

(b)the transfer takes place—

(i)on or after 19 March 2014, and

(ii)before 6 April 2015, and

(c)the date mentioned in sub-paragraph (7)(a) is before 6 October 2015.]

(7)The retirement condition is met in relation to the member and the pension scheme if—

(a)the member becomes entitled to all the [F5benefits] payable to the member under arrangements under the pension scheme (to which the member did not have an actual entitlement on or before 5th April 2006) on the same date, and

[F6(b)in a case where on 5th April 2006 the member had an actual or prospective right under the pension scheme to any benefit from an age of less than 50, Condition 1 is met or, in any other case, Condition 2 or 3 is met.]

[F7(7A)Condition 1 is met if—

(a)the member is not, after becoming entitled to the benefits mentioned in sub-paragraph (7)(a), employed by a person who is a sponsoring employer in relation to the pension scheme and with whom the member is connected, and

(b)the member's becoming entitled to those benefits is not part of an arrangement the main purpose (or one of the main purposes) of which is the avoidance of tax or national insurance contributions.

(7B)Condition 2 is met if—

(a)the member is not, after becoming entitled to the benefits mentioned in sub-paragraph (7)(a), employed by a person specified in sub-paragraph (7C), and

(b)the member's becoming entitled to those benefits is not part of an arrangement the main purpose (or one of the main purposes) of which is the avoidance of tax or national insurance contributions.

(7C)The persons referred to in sub-paragraph (7B)(a) are—

(a)any person who was a sponsoring employer in relation to the pension scheme at any time during the period of six months ending with the day on which the member became entitled to the benefits mentioned in sub-paragraph (7)(a) and by whom the member was employed at any time during that period,

(b)any person who is connected with any such person, or

(c)any person who is a sponsoring employer in relation to the pension scheme and with whom the member is connected.

(7D)If the member has become entitled to the benefits payable under arrangements under the pension scheme by reason of service in the armed forces of the Crown, any employment on compulsory recall is to be disregarded for the purposes of sub-paragraph (7B)(a).

(7E)Condition 3 is met if —

(a)paragraph (a) of sub-paragraph (7B) is not satisfied but one of the re-employment conditions is met, and

(b)paragraph (b) of that sub-paragraph is satisfied.

(7F)The re-employment conditions are—

(a)that the member is not employed as mentioned in sub-paragraph (7B)(a) during the period of six months beginning with the day on which the member becomes entitled to the benefits mentioned in sub-paragraph (7)(a), and

(b)that the member is not employed as mentioned in sub-paragraph (7B)(a) during the period of one month beginning with that day, but is so employed during the period of five months beginning at the end of that period, and either the pension abatement condition or the materially different employment condition is met [F8, and

(c)that the member is or was employed as mentioned in sub-paragraph (7B)(a) where—

(i)the employment began at any time during the coronavirus period, and

(ii)the only or main reason that the member was taken into employment was to help the employer to respond to the public health, social, economic or other effects of coronavirus.]

(7G)The pension abatement condition is met if—

(a)the pension scheme is a public service pension scheme, and

(b)the member's benefits under the scheme consist of or include a scheme pension which is liable to reduction by abatement while the member is employed as mentioned in sub-paragraph (7B)(a) and is under the age of 55.

(7H)The materially different employment condition is met—

(a)in a case where the member is employed as mentioned in sub-paragraph (7B)(a) in more than one employment during the period of five months mentioned in sub-paragraph (7F)(b), if each of those employments, and

(b)otherwise, if the employment in which the member is so employed during that period,

is materially different in nature from the employment in which the member was employed immediately before becoming entitled to the benefits mentioned in sub-paragraph (7)(a).

(7I)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (7D) “employment on compulsory recall” means permanent service—

(a)under Part 4 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996,

(b)under Part 5 of that Act,

(c)under a call-out or recall order made under that Act,

(d)having been called out or recalled under the Reserve Forces Act 1980, or

(e)because of any other call-out or recall obligation of an officer.

(7J)[F9Section 1122 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010] (connected persons) applies for the purposes of this paragraph.]

[F10(7K)In sub-paragraph (7F)(c)—

• “coronavirus” has the same meaning as in the Coronavirus Act 2020 (see section 1(1) of that Act);

• “the coronavirus period” means the period beginning with 1 March 2020 and ending with 1 November 2020.

(7L)The Treasury may by regulations amend the definition of “the coronavirus period” in sub-paragraph (7K) so as to replace the later of the dates specified in it with another date falling before 6 April 2021.

(7M)The power in sub-paragraph (7L) may be exercised on more than one occasion.]

(8)The member’s protected pension age is the age from which the member had an actual or prospective right to [F11any benefit] under the protected pension scheme on 5th April 2006 (or, where condition B is met, under the original pension scheme on that date).

(9)But this paragraph does not have effect so as to give the member a protected pension age of more than 50 at any time before 6th April 2010.