VAT treatment of pension fund management services: HMRC brief 8 (2015)

On 26th March, 2015, HMRC published another Brief (Brief 8 (2015)), in which HMRC developed some aspects of their thinking regarding DB schemes.  Although there remain points of uncertainty, the latest Brief suggests it may be possible to restructure a pension fund management contract to enable the employer to treat 100% of the VAT borne on the supply as part of the employer’s input tax and, if it wishes, to pass the cost on to the trustee.