Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

611 Definition of “retirement benefits scheme”

(1) In this Chapter “retirement benefits scheme” means, subject to the provisions of this section, a scheme for the provision of benefits consisting of or including relevant benefits, but does not include any national scheme providing such benefits.

(2) References in this Chapter to a scheme include references to a deed, agreement, series of agreements, or other arrangements providing for relevant benefits notwithstanding that it relates or they relate only to—

(a) a small number of employees, or to a single employee, or

(b) the payment of a pension starting immediately on the making of the arrangements.

(3) The Board may, if they think fit, treat a retirement benefits scheme relating to employees of two or more different classes or descriptions as being for the purposes of this Chapter two or more separate retirement benefits schemes relating respectively to such one or more of those classes or descriptions of those employees as the Board think fit.

(4) For the purposes of this section, and of any other provision of this Chapter—

(a) employees may be regarded as belonging to different classes or descriptions if they are employed by different employers; and

(b) a particular class or description of employee may consist of a single employee, or any number of employees, however small.

(5) Without prejudice to subsections (3) and (4) above, the Board may continue to treat as two different schemes, for the purposes of this Chapter, any retirement benefits scheme which, in pursuance of paragraph 5 of Schedule 3 to the [1971 c. 68.] Finance Act 1971 (schemes in existence before 5th April 1973), they treated, immediately before the coming into force of this Chapter, as two separate schemes for the purposes of Chapter II of Part II of the [1970 c. 24.] Finance Act 1970.