HMRC has agreed to exempt pension administration professionals from new requirements requiring ‘tax advisers’ who interact with HMRC on behalf of clients to register with HMRC and meet new minimum standards from 1 April.

Proposed pension reforms included in next week’s Budget will create chaos and put bereaved families and ordinary people at financial risk, according to STEP, the global professional body for trust and estate practitioners.

DB pension surpluses remain at record highs, up £57bn year-on-year in October, according to new analysis from XPS Group.

The Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) has warned of the “unintended consequences” of changing the law relating to pre-1997 pension scheme indexation.

Less than a third of members of the auto enrolment Nest Pension scheme are paying into their retirement pots, according to new data released under an FOI request.

Pensions consultancy LCP has urged the Government to make major changes to ensure that new inheritance tax rules are implemented fairly and effectively.

A fifth of HNW individuals aged 55 and over (19%) are unaware that unused private pensions will be liable for inheritance tax from April 2027.

With news today that the IHT take seems to be rising inexorably, Andy Zanelli, head of technical engagement at Aberdeen Adviser looks in this case study article for Financial Planning Today at the worrying potential cost of IHT to future generations and why advisers need to start planning now to avoid a nasty tax trap.

The government’s Pension Tracing Service received 273,709 calls between January 2021 and September 2025 from people keen to trace 'lost' retirement savings. 

More than one in three pension schemes believe the arrival of the Pensions Dashboards - due next year - will spur a 30%-50% increase in member activity.

A new petition is calling on government to make a public commitment to a Pension Tax Lock, pledging not to alter key pension tax incentives – tax-free cash entitlement and tax relief – for at least this Parliament.

There was worrying news this week that pension drawdown users are taking out far too much cash from their pensions.

James Jones-Tinsley, technical specialist at pension consultants Barnett Waddingham, reviews the updates this week from HMRC and the FCA on pension tax free lump sum cancellation rights. 

Wealth manager trade body PIMFA has called for a clear tax road map to stem the tide of people accessing their tax-free pension cash because of speculation and headlines.

Almost a fifth, 17%, of UK adults aged 55 or over, have never checked their pension, according to new research.

The proportion of savers accessing a pension for the first time using regulated advice has fallen to less than a third according to the latest FCA figures.

I was intrigued and more than a little worried this week by a report about consumer expectations of an inheritance windfall. It turns out many millions see an inheritance windfall as almost guaranteed.

New figures from the FCA published today have revealed that the total number of pension plans accessed for the first time rose by 8.6% to 961,575 compared to 885,455 in 2023/24.

Savers could be losing £1.7bn from their pension pots due to poorly informed transfers made in the year to 30 June, according to master trust People’s Pension.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves risks a new ‘omnishambles’ Budget if she raids pension tax relief, a former Pensions Minister has warned.