The Accountancy Solutions applauds sweeping new HMRC powers designed to combat pension fraud

The Accountancy Solutions has welcomed news that HMRC is due to introduce stricter legislation in 2018 that will protect the retirement pots of millions of pensioners in the UK by guarding them against fraudulent pension schemes.

The new measures, which will be announced by the government after the winter Finance Bill on 22 November, will give HMRC the power to refuse to register and de-register master trusts which don’t have authorisation from The Pensions Regulator.

Master trusts are workplace pension schemes which have seen a popularity boom since the UK government introduced auto-enrolment, bringing millions more workers into the pension market.

Mr Rumit Kapoor, Designate Accountant at London Office of The Accountancy Solutions said: “What these new powers mean is that HMRC is essentially broadening the grounds upon which it can refuse to register a pension scheme.

“Many vulnerable pensioners have fallen victim to cruel pensions scams over the years, with scammers using ploys such as offering seemingly brilliant investment opportunities in overseas properties in order to trick pensioners into parting with their cash.

“Fraudsters have also claimed to know about loopholes that can help get pensioners more than the usual 25% tax-free amount, or offering pensioners a saving advance or cashback from their pension.”

The new measures to combat the targeting of pensioners comes after City of London figures showed that £8.6m in losses were reported by 24 victims of pension fraud in March of this year, representing a massive increase on the £779,000 cheated out of 12 pensioners the month before.

In total, more than £42m has been stolen from pensioners via ‘pension liberation fraud’ since 2014 after radical changes to pension rules were brought in by the former chancellor George Osborne.

Mr. Kapoor said “The amount of money that pensioners have been cheated out of via pension fraud is disgusting; these people have worked hard their entire lives and deserve the right to a relaxing retirement.

“It’s for this reason we applaud the new measures being brought in by HMRC and hope that they will indeed combat the pension fraud problem in our country.”

Accountancy and tax experts The Accountancy Solutions offers a range of retirement planning services to its clients, including ongoing pension arrangement reviews that can help pensioners maintain the highest level of benefit from their pensions and employment pension arrangements to help people join workplace pensions.

The Accountancy Solutions also offers advice on arranging self-invested personal pensions (SIPP) which are chosen by many looking to establish large pensions through investments, and a wealth of specialist individual retirement plan advice.

For more information about the broad range of pension and retirement services offered by The Accountancy Solutions, please visit https://theaccountancysolutions.com/ or call 01216297768 (Birmingham) or 02070784001 (London).