Help For Employers

Stakeholder Pensions and the requirements that affect employers has been law since 2001.

As an employer, you must take action.

This employers section has been written to help employers understand the stakeholder pension rules and regulations.  How the pension rules affect you and what action you need to take.

See how your business is affected by Stakeholder rules and then find out what the benefits are of having a low cost pension scheme for your staff.

Contact us today and learn more about stakeholder pensions.

1. Control Your Costs

By reading how stakeholder pension law affects your business, you will be aware of the requirements on you as an employer to offer a pension scheme to your employees. 

Even if you are not required to do so - it is still worth considering as you control the costs and it can provide excellent benefits for your business.

For your business

A Stakeholder Pension or other company pension scheme can deliver:

• Easier recruitment - staff do value employers who make an effort to look after their welfare in retirement.  It may also help to attract higher quality staff.
• Increased staff loyalty and morale - happy staff tend to be more productive.  Being seen as a caring employer may reduce staff turnover which in turn reduces recruitment and training costs.

Controlling your costs - you choose whether to make contributions or not

You do not have to pay into a Stakeholder Pension for your staff, but it may benefit both you and your employees.  You can also pay in lump sums or increase regular contributions at any time.

We take the administration burden away from you

Having to make payroll deductions for employee contributions is a cost on your business time and therefore your profits.

Let us take that burden away from you.  We can assist with payroll systems, computer systems and even totally run your scheme on the Internet.

Tax privileged

Your contributions normally are treated as a business expense and can therefore be offset against your income tax or corporation tax.

2. Looking After Staff

Offering a stakeholder pension scheme for your employees benefit actually benefits employers as well. 

A pension scheme is a prized and valuable benefit respected by employees.  

It is also simple and easier for them, to have contributions deducted from pay, this is normally the only way your employees may get to save.

How many times have you heard the phrase "I don't even miss it now that it is taken straight from my salary".

Your employees decide how much they wish to pay into a pension and can vary this amount when they desire.

Please note that for Stakeholder Pensions, you can restrict these changes to once every six months - thus again reducing your administration burden.

They decide on their retirement date and they also get tax relief on their contributions.

Also, these schemes are totally portable.  If they leave they take their pension scheme with them - again reducing your administration burden.

3.  Services for Employers

We offer a range of services to help employers with pensions schemes including:

• Setting up a pension scheme
• Establishing your company's own pensions website
• Reports, tenders and research
• Payroll assistance
• Employee meetings and presentations
• Ensure you comply with pension laws
• Work-site marketing
• Online management
• Help for your Accountants and legal advisers

We ensure you and your employees get exceptional value for monthly pensions schemes at low cost

We offer a complete employee benefits service to ensure you get on with running your own business and not waste time with pensions red tape.

4. Employer Tax Relief

Employer pension contributions are fully allowable as a business expense.  They can be offset against your tax liability to reduce any income tax (self-employed and partners) or corporation tax (limited companies) that you may pay.

National Insurance Saving

Employer contributions are not treated as pay for the employee.  Therefore, as an employer, you will not pay any increased employer's National Insurance Contributions (NIC).  This represents an ideal way to offer your employees enhanced benefits rather than straight pay rises.  You will not have the potential additional burden of employers National Insurance contributions on the pay rise.

Tax Free Cash

Most pension funds are able, on retirement, to pay out a lump sum which is tax free.  Again another valuable benefit to the saver.

Tax Privileged Growth

Pensions are an ideal way to save for the long term.  The fund grows virtually tax free, i.e.  it does not have to pay any capital gains tax on any gains on assets held by the fund.  Also, it is currently only partially taxed on income derived from assets held by the pension fund.  This results in a pension fund being a very tax efficient way to save.

Death Tax - Inheritance Tax

It is normal for most pension schemes to be established under "discretionary powers".  The result is that on death any lump sum or pension fund is normally paid on death with no liability to Inheritance Tax.

To learn more about tax benefits for employers contact us today.