{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/registered-pension-schemes-relevant-income-regulations-2011/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/registered-pension-schemes-relevant-income-regulations-2011/note.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2011/1783",
  "legislation_title": "The Registered Pension Schemes (Relevant Income) Regulations 2011",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/registered-pension-schemes-relevant-income-regulations-2011",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nThese Regulations prescribe four categories of payment that are not to be regarded as “relevant income” for the purposes of ascertaining whether or not a member of a registered pension scheme or a dependant of such a member satisfies the “minimum income requirement” as provided for in Schedule 28 to the Finance Act 2004 (“FA 2004”) as amended by the Finance Act 2011 (“FA 2011”). Members or dependants with a minimum income requirement of £20,000 or more per annum may draw down an unlimited amount from their remaining drawdown pension funds in registered pension schemes provided the conditions set out in sections 165 and 167 of FA 2004 are met.\nRegulation 1 provides for citation, commencement and effect. These Regulations have retrospective effect from 6th April 2011 pursuant to the power contained in section 282(A1) of FA 2004 as that section has effect under paragraph 108(2) of Schedule 16 to FA 2011. Section 282(A1) of FA 2004 provides that regulations made under Part 4 of that Act may include provision having effect in relation to times before the regulations are made if that provision does not increase any person’s liability to tax. Paragraph 108(2) of Schedule 16 to FA 2011 provides that regulations which are made for the purposes of the amendments made to Part 4 of FA 2004 by that Schedule in the tax year beginning on 6th April 2011 may have retrospective effect in circumstances where they may increase a person’s liability to tax.\nRegulation 2 introduces the payments described in regulations 3 and 4.\nRegulation 3 provides that three categories of payment are not to be regarded as “relevant income”. The first category is payments of scheme pensions made in respect of defined benefit arrangements where there are fewer than 20 pensioner members in the pension scheme. The second category is scheme pensions under money purchase arrangements where the pension scheme has less than 20 pensioner members entitled to such pensions. The third category is payments under overseas pension schemes which if they were to be made by a registered pension scheme, would fall within one of the first two categories. Paragraphs (4) (5) and (6) carve out exceptions from these categories.\nRegulation 4 sets out the fourth category of payments that are not be regarded as “relevant income”. These are payments of lifetime annuities or dependants’ annuities where the payments exceed the minimum amount of the annuity that is guaranteed to be paid each year under the contract over its full term. Payments of a lifetime or dependants’ annuity where the annual amount of annuity cannot decrease or is determined in accordance with regulation 2(2)(a)(i) of the Registered Pension Schemes (Prescribed Manner of Determining Amount of Annuities) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/568) (variation in line with the retail prices index) are excepted from this category and therefore can form part of a member or dependant’s “relevant income”.\nA Tax Information and Impact Note covering this instrument was published on 9th December 2010 alongside draft legislation for the Finance (No.3) Bill 2011 and is available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/thelibrary/tiins.htm. It remains an accurate summary of the impacts that apply to this instrument.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/1783/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T02:01:03.611012+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}