Around 70,000 people ask the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) for help in locating lost pots each year. The Unclaimed Assets Register estimate billions of pounds could be remaining unclaimed assets,mhowever the exact figure is unknown.
So if you suspect you have lost pensions here is what you need to do.

Pensions Tracing Service. If you provide them with basic details they are able to searches their database of 200,000 different occupational and personal schemes. Visit its website at www.pension-tracing-service.com Alternatively, you can contact them on 0845 6002 537 or write to Pension Tracing Service at:

The Pension service, Tyneview Park, Whitley Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE98 1BA

What information you need to give them.

Employers nameAny previous trading namesEmployers addressBank or insurance company name of pension providerYour nameYour National Insurance number

The Pensions Tracing Service can provide you with the contact details for the scheme administrator. However it will be up to you to contact them to find out about your pension.

If this does not work these organisations may be able help you find your lost pensions.

The Pensions Advisory Service www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

Unclaimed Assets Register www.uar.co.uk/

There is no doubt that the problem of lost pensions is going to become an enormous problem and is far better to find out where they are now rather than later. 20 years from now it is likely to prove much harder to locate any missing assets. And if nothing else we have a much better chance of remembering useful information now rather than at a later data.
If you need help locating your missing pensions, contact us today for help.

NEST is a new type of pension scheme to be launched in October 2012 for larger employers and will affect all employers by 2016. Just to be clear there are no exceptions, if you have employees it will affect you and your business. So NEST auto-enrolment commences for employers of all sizes, and will be phased in between 2012 and 2016.
An eligible worker is an employee aged between 22 and state pension age and earning above the income tax personal allowance (£7,475 in 2011/12).  Contributions will be payable on earnings between £5,035 and £33,540.
Here are the important facts that you need to know.

• NEST stands for National Employment Savings Trust
• Employers will have responsibility for paying contributions into a pension
• Employers will be required to contribute a minimum amount of each employee’s eligible earnings
• Employees will required to contribute  a personal contributions
• Employees will be permitted to opt out
• ‘A qualifying workplace pension scheme’ is allowable as an alternative
• Auto enrolment could be to your existing company pension schemeNEST will have low charges.
• A limited choice of investment funds and a default fund for those who do not make a choice.
• An annual contribution limit of £3,600 a year
• The NEST Pension will operate as a centralised scheme run by a not-for-profit trustee corporation called NEST Corporation.
• Like other company schemes it will be regulated by the Pensions Regulator.
• Encouraging employees not to join the scheme will be offence and employers could incur a substantial fine

There will be a phased introduction of these minimum contribution levels. 
October 2012 to September 2016 – minimum of 2% of qualifying earnings with at least 1% from the employer.
October 2016 to September 2017 – minimum of 5% of qualifying earnings, with at least 2% from the employer.
From October 2017, minimum of 8% of qualifying earnings, with at least 3% from the employer.
Timescale
Employer (by PAYE  scheme size)Staging Date
120,000 or more                        1 October 2012

50,000 to 119,999                     1 November 2012

30,000 to 49,999                       1 January 2013

20,000 to 29,999                       1 February 2013

10,000 to 19,999                        1 March 2013

6,000 to 9,999                            1 April 2013

4,100 to 5,999                            1 May 2013

4,000 to 4,099                            1 June 2013

3,000 to 3,999                            1 July 2013

2,000-2,999                                 1 August 2013

1,250-1,999                                 1 September 2013

800-1,249                                    1 October 2013

500-799                                       1 November 2013

350-499                                        1 January 2014

250-349                                        1 February 2014

240-249                                        1 April 2014

150-239                                        1 May 2014

90-149                                           1 June 2014

50-89                                             1 July 2014                                         

<50 employees                          1 March 2014–1 February 2016

The Government estimates that approximately 7 million people are currently saving to little for their retirement.
It is the Government’s ideas for making it easier for these people to save for retirement.
The NEST scheme is intended for lower earners who don’t have access to a company pension arrangement.

 
Use your annual ISA allowance

 
The most obvious tax planning to be done before the end of the tax year is to make sure you have used this years ISA allowance. The annual allowance for a stocks & shares ISA for tax year 2011/2012 is £10,680. In some cases it’s possible to add the charges for investing, so that the full allowance can be invested. And don’t forget married couples have an allowance each. Remember that you have to use the allowance or lose it. There is no going back after the 5th April.

 
If stocks & shares ISA’s are not for you, you can still invest into a cash ISA. The annual allowance is half of the full allowance allowing you to invest a total of £5,340 in the current tax year 2011/2012.

 
However, it..’s not all about ISA’s

 
Pension retirement planning ideas   

 
Legislation changed last April and has given rise to a few opportunities for you to add value to your pension fund. Here are a few ideas to consider.

• Increase your contributions to adjust your income below tax and personal allowance thresholds.

• You can also make pension contributions for members of your family even if they don’t pay income tax. An annual contribution of £3,600 gross can be invested, which is £2,880 net plus tax relief of  £720 from HMRC.

• Using carry forward of unused annual allowance and increase the total amount invested into your pension.

A few other end of year tax planning ideas.

 
If you are planning on doing some Inheritance Tax planning, use your annual gift allowance of £3,000. And if you did not use last years allowance you can use that as well, giving you a total of £6,000. There is also the small gift allowance of £250, which you can gift away intop of the £3,000.

 
We each have an annual Capital Gains Tax allowance of £10,600. If you have gains up to or more than this you can make disposals to take advantage of the allowance. Again it’s a case if use it or lose it. You make not wish to sell your share holding on a permanent basis, but unfortunately ‘bed & breakfasting’ is no longer permissible. However, this can be circumvented by ‘ bed & spousing’ instead. You sell the stock and your partner buys it back the following day, thereby ensuring you keep hold of your top performing investment.

 
Before embarking on any tax planning and investing it is recommended that you seek professional advice.

However help is at hand. The very kind people at DirectGov have calculator to help you find out when you will be entitled to your State Pension. Click on the link below to find out when you will be able to claim your State Pension.

State pension age Calculator

In simple terms if you were born after 5^th April 1960 your new State Retirement Age will not be 65 and will be at some point after that. The table below gives an approximate idea of when you can take your state Pension.

To work out exactly when you can find out by clicking the link above.

The law has recently changed and there may have been a change to the date when you will receive your State Pension.

If you over the age of 55 it is strongly recommended that you get a state pension forecast. This can be done by completing a BR19 form and sending it off to the Department of Work & Pensions. They will usually send a reply back to you within 3 weeks or so.

What does the State Pension forecast tell you?

The State Pension forecast gives you detailed information on the State Pension you will potentially receive when you reach your State Pension age. It is based on your National Insurance contributions record, and will give you estimates of your basic and additional State Pension and, if appropriate, your Graduated Retirement Benefit.

Advantages

• Maximum tax-free cash lump sum can be taken at outset.
• The amount of income withdrawn can be varied each year to suit your circumstances.
• The remainder of the fund not used to provide income remains invested and can potentially increase in value.
• The amount of income withdrawn can be structured to ensure that income tax is minimized.
• Any unused funds can potentially pass to your dependants free of tax.

Disadvantages

• High income withdrawals may lead to the fund either being reduced significantly or eliminated altogether.
• The capital value of the remaining fund may fall in value if the investments perform poorly.
• Annuity rates may have fallen by the time you choose convert to an annuity
• Poor fund performance may reduce the amount of income that can be withdrawn from the fund in the future.
• Withdrawing too much income may lead to future income having to be reduced.
• Flexible drawdown is more complex than buying an annuity and is likely to be cost more to run.
• There is no guarantee that your future income be greater than income that could have been provided by an annuity.

With complex arrangements such as Flexible Drawdown it is essential to take professional advice before making any decisions. It is also essential to have regular reviews in place to ensure that it continues to meet your needs.

If you have pension income of over £20,000 per year (Minimum Income Requirement) you are now allowed to take unlimited amounts of income from their pension funds, subject to tax at your marginal rate.

It is only available if you aged 55 or more and are able to meet the minimum income requirement (MIR).

The MIR is currently set at £20,000 per annum and the government has agreed this is the minimum guaranteed amount of income required by the individual.

What counts towards the Minimum Income Guarantee

• State Pension Benefits – Basic and Additional
• Final Salary Pensions
• Pension Annuities
• Scheme Pensions

Purchased life annuities are not allowable.

In reality we would not expect anyone to fully withdraw their whole pension fund as tax could be at 50% on some of the fund withdrawal. What most investors are likely to do is withdraw funds each year as when they need it, leaving the remainder of the fund invested.

Additionally, once an investor enters into Flexible Drawdown they will no longer be permitted to invest money into the pension plan and receive tax relief. So it’s important to make sure that contributions into the pension scheme are maximised before entering into a Flexible Drawdown arrangement.

Higher rate tax payers may be attracted to this type of income withdrawal if they think that they will become basic rate tax payers in the future. Investors are able to withdraw surplus funds up to the higher rate tax bracket per annum. Having paid into their pension as a higher rate tax payer whilst employed they can then withdraw income as a basic rate tax payer once they retire.

Eligility for Flexible Drawdown

The investor must meet the following criteria to be eligible for flexible drawdown:

• Income of £20,000 (Minimum Income Requirement)
• No longer contributing to a defined contribution scheme (i.e. Personal Pension).
• Not build up further benefits in a defined benefit arrangement (i.e. Final salary Scheme)
• Must be 55 years of age or over.
• Provide a satisfactory declaration to the pension provider concerned that they meet the above conditions.

Investors who opt for flexible drawdown can also able to take 25% of the drawdown as a tax-free amount. In the event of death, your surviving spouse/dependants would have four options:

• Take the fund on death as a cash lump sum less a one-off 55% tax charge
• Use the fund remaining on death to purchase a lifetime annuity
• Continue in Income Drawdown, with the maximum income allowance based on their age and sex

No Inheritance Tax (IHT) will typically apply to lump sum death benefits either before or after age 75. Where there is no dependent it will be possible to pay the lump sum death benefit tax free to charity.

It’s happened to one of the biggest clubs in Britain. Rangers Football Club has entered administration and is awaiting the verdict from the HMRC tax tribunal, concerning the use of employee benefit trusts (EBT) for its players and probably some of its more highly paid off field staff.

An EBT is a discretionary trust used for the benefit of employees to reduce or minimise the tax and national insurance they pay. We understand that Rangers used EBTs to pay players’ wages into offshore trusts in order to avoid national insurance (NI).

The case between Rangers Football Club and HMRC, could affect many more clubs in both Scotland and England. HMRC have claimed that the EBT was included in the player’s contract. If the use of EBT’s was part of the players contracts then the payments could not be regarded as discretionary, which is a requirement of an EBT if they are to work effectively. If HMRC’s win the case the consequences for Rangers are dire. Not only will there be considerable tax due, but also significant penalties.

The outcome as looks most likely now is that Rangers football club will have to pay back taxes for the player’s wages as well as a penalty and interest.

Craig Whyte, chairman of the Rangers Football Club, said:

“It is extremely disappointing the club finds itself in this position but decisions have to be taken to safeguard the long-term survival and prosperity of the club, both on and off the field.

“The harsh reality is that this moment has been a long time coming for Rangers and its roots lie in decisions taken many years ago. If we do not take action now, the consequences and the risks to the club are too great.

“There is no realistic or practical alternative to our approach as HMRC has made it plain to the club that should we be successful in the forthcoming tax tribunal decision, it will ‘appeal, appeal and appeal again’ the decision.

“This would leave the club facing years of uncertainty and also having to pay immediately a range of liabilities to HMRC. Even if the club were to succeed in the tax tribunal, it would still face substantial liabilities. Zero liability will not happen.”

The moral of this story, is to very careful with tax planning. HMRC are clamping down on any tax avoidance scheme and the vast majority of them have to be notified to HMRC before they are recommended to clients.

Always seek advice from fully qualified and authorised advisers before embarking on any tax strategy that is not widely accepted as being genuine and acceptable under current legislation.

Since the middle of 2011 some companies have been promoting Pension Release or similarly worded methods of extracting money from existing pension plans for those under the age of 55. Additionally they are also offering the option of extracting more that 25% as Tax Free Cash (now referred to as Pension Commencement Lump Sum).

Now HMRC rules regarding withdrawing funds from Pension Plans are pretty much crystal clear.

• NO withdrawal of funds before the age of 55
• Maximum Tax free Cash 25% (unless you have an occupation scheme, which may entitle you to more)

The penalty for flouting the rules – 55% Tax Charge for Unauthorised Payment.

Additionally, the issue has gone all the way to the High Court which declared the activity illegal. However this has not stopped some unscrupulous companies still offering the service.

Many of these companies appear not to be regulated by the Financial Service Authority and are often not located in the UK.

Tempting as it may be for some people to attempt to get money out of their pension plans, it’s really not a good idea. HMRC are very likely to catch up with you at some point and if you have either spent the money or used it to repay a debt, they will still insist that the unauthorised tax charge of 55% is paid. It’s just not worth taking the risk.

If you are approached by a company offering to extract money out of your pension fund, go to the Financial Services Authority website and reads this statement issued in 2011.

It would also be a good idea to check the Financial Services Authority Register to make sure that they are actually authorised and regulated in the UK.

You are not likely to come across these schemes by accident though. Most likely you will get a cold call from a person who will general suggest a review of your pension and that they will send you a letter of authority so that they can speak to your pension company(s). There are also plenty of people operating in the Property Investment World who are also promoting pension reciprocation as a method of helping people to find funds for the deposit for a buy to let investment. Be very wary! As they are most unlikely to be regulated.

Finally the fees to access your pension fund early can also be enormous. There have been cases where the pension policy holder has been charged fees equivalent to 16% of the fund value.

Always seek advice from an authorised and qualified adviser before taking any action.