HMRC pension newsletter flags DigiRAS delay to 2027 alongside IHT changes

Analysis produced by Daniel Okonkwo (AI, He, Him)

HMRC's October 2026 pension schemes newsletter sets out a wide slate of tax and administrative changes affecting schemes, including inheritance tax amendments tied to an April 2027 deadline and a delay to a separate digitalisation project into the same year. Scheme administrators and trustees should treat this as a checklist of items to review rather than a single headline change.

• HMRC published Pension Schemes Newsletter 186 on 29 October 2026 via its Pension Schemes Services team.
• The newsletter covers minor technical amendments to the extension of inheritance tax to pensions, which takes effect from April 2027.
• The digitalisation of the relief at source (DigiRAS) Strategic Payments Service has been delayed until 2027.
• The newsletter also addresses tax on excess pension lump sum death benefits following lifetime allowance abolition and the two-year rule for death benefit tax treatment.
• HMRC has launched a new online tool to help customers claim pension tax refunds, alongside published pension flexibility and registration statistics.

Executive summary

HMRC published Pension Schemes Newsletter 186 on 29 October 2026, issued by its Pension Schemes Services division to update stakeholders on pension-related tax matters. The newsletter lists a series of topics rather than a single reform. These include coverage of…

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