Finance Act 1991

Retirement benefits schemes

34 Conditions for approval: amendments

(1) Section 590 of the Taxes Act 1988 (conditions for approval of retirement benefits schemes) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (3)(a) for the words “or, if the employee is a woman, 55, and not later than 70” there shall be substituted the words “and not later than 75”.

(3) The following subsection shall be inserted after subsection (4)—

“(4A) In subsection (3)(c) above “benefits” does not include any benefits for whose payment the scheme makes provision in pursuance of any obligation imposed by legislation relating to social security.”

(4) This section shall have effect in relation to a scheme not approved by the Board before the day on which this Act is passed.

35 Cessation of approval

The following section shall be inserted after section 591 of the Taxes Act 1988—

“591A Effect on approved schemes of regulations under section 591

(1) Subsection (2) below applies where on or after 17th April 1991 regulations are made for the purposes of section 591 (“section 591 regulations”) which contain provisions restricting the Board’s discretion to approve a retirement benefits scheme by reference to any circumstances other than the benefits provided by the scheme (“relevant provisions”).

(2) Any retirement benefits scheme approved by the Board by virtue of section 591 before the day on which the section 591 regulations come into force shall cease to be approved by virtue of that section at the end of the period of 36 months beginning with that day if at the end of that period the scheme—

(a) contains a provision of a prohibited description, or

(b) does not contain a provision of a required description,

unless the description of provision is specified in regulations made by the Board for the purposes of this subsection.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a provision contained in a scheme shall not be treated as being of a prohibited description by reason only of the fact that it authorises the retention of an investment held immediately before the day on which the section 591 regulations are made.

(4) In determining for the purposes of this section whether any provision contained in a scheme is of a required description, the fact that it is framed so as not to require the disposal of an investment held immediately before the day on which the section 591 regulations are made shall be disregarded.

(5) In this section—

(a) references to a provision of a prohibited description are to a provision of a description specified in the relevant provisions of the section 591 regulations as a description of provision which, if contained in a retirement benefits scheme, would prevent the Board from approving the scheme by virtue of section 591;

(b) references to a provision of a required description are to a provision of a description specified in the relevant provisions of the section 591 regulations as a description of provision which must be contained in a retirement benefits scheme before the Board may approve the scheme by virtue of section 591.”

36 Cessation of approval: general provisions

(1) The following section shall be inserted after section 591A of the Taxes Act 1988—

“591B Cessation of approval: general provisions

(1) If in the opinion of the Board the facts concerning any approved scheme or its administration cease to warrant the continuance of their approval of the scheme, they may at any time by notice to the administrator, withdraw their approval on such grounds, and from such date (which shall not be earlier than the date when those facts first ceased to warrant the continuance of their approval or 17th March 1987, whichever is the later), as may be specified in the notice.

(2) Where an alteration has been made in a retirement benefits scheme, no approval given by the Board as regards the scheme before the alteration shall apply after the date of the alteration unless—

(a) the alteration has been approved by the Board, or

(b) the scheme is of a class specified in regulations made by the Board for the purposes of this paragraph and the alteration is of a description so specified in relation to schemes of that class.”

(2) Accordingly, in section 590 of the Taxes Act 1988 subsections (5) and (6) shall be omitted.

(3) The amendments made by subsections (1) and (2) above shall be deemed always to have had effect.

(4) The [1970 c. 24.] Finance Act 1970 shall be deemed always to have had effect—

(a) with the omission of section 19(3) and (4), and

(b) with the insertion after section 20 of a section 20A in the same form as section 591B of the Taxes Act 1988 (with the omission before 17th March 1987 of the words from “(which shall not” to “whichever is the later)”).