SC Willey v HMRC

In SC Willey v HMRC (TC02731 – 11 June) a pension scheme made an unauthorised payment of £100 000 to one of its members in 2006. HMRC issued an assessment on the scheme administrator (W) under FA 2004 s 255. The First-tier Tribunal dismissed W’s appeal against the assessment. Judge Cannan noted that W was a chartered accountant and a chartered tax adviser. W had failed to observe the statutory reporting requirements and ‘had delegated day-to-day control of the schemes for which he was the scheme administrator to another individual’.

Judge Cannan observed that ‘one of the reasons for the tax charges which arise where a pension scheme makes unauthorised payments is to safeguard the tax-relieved funds in the scheme for the provision of retirement benefits. In relation to loans the provisions seek to ensure that funds are not loaned in circumstances where there is a risk they...