SSAS has been established for over 50 years and is an HMRC approved pension scheme designed for UK business owners. It is an extremely flexible structure which provides more scope and latitude for business owners to plan for retirement in a more commercial way

SSAS is a Member Directed Occupational Pension scheme which means that you, and ONLY YOU has full control of your pension

In simple terms, SSAS allows you to contribute more value into a pension than any personal pension and gives you the scope to use that value in a more flexible, creative and commercial way

• SSAS is it’s own singular trust arrangement (unlike a personal pension or SIPP)
• SSAS can have up to 11 members
• SSAS must have a Sponsoring employer – a Limited Company or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
• SSAS can have multiple Sponsoring employers – say for example you have many businesses which are profitable 
• SSAS requires to be approved by HMRC and granted it’s own Pension Scheme Tax Reference number (PSTR)
• SSAS with more than a single member are regulated by The Pensions Regulator (TPR)
• SSAS is an occupational pension scheme type which is very different to any personal pension structure that you may have previously experienced
• SSAS is a Member Directed Occupational pension scheme type which means that you as the Member and the Trustee have the significant control of all decisions within the pension and all investment decisions
• The SSAS / You will generally select you and your other family or nominated members as Member Trustees, and a Professional Trustee and Administrator alongside you
• This structure allows you the flexibility to decide your own investment strategy yet you have the comfort and knowledge of knowing that you have a Professional Trustee guiding you in this process and technicalities of SSAS
• Each member essentially has their own allocation of value within the SSAS and part of the Trustee function is to manage that process and allocate values accordingly
• When contributions are made into the SSAS, you determine at that time, what the allocation of that value is between the members.
• As a SSAS is an individual entity in it’s own right, it requires that a Bank Account is established for the SSAS. This account will accept any payments that you contribute or transfer in, and it will make payments of loans, purchase assets, receive rent payments, loan repayments and so on 

No. There are some very significant differences between SIPP and SSAS:

• SSAS is designed only for business owners / Directors use
• SSAS is it’s own singular trust arrangement
• SSAS as a group scheme can have up to 11 members
• SSAS can have multiple sponsoring employers – say for example you have many businesses which are profitable
• SIPP’s are personal pensions
• SIPP’s are part of a master trust and carry the pooled risk of the unregulated / risky investment choices and regulatory issues, burdens and costs of other investors
• SSAS is it’s own individual Trust
• SIPP’s can only accept Allocated Contributions that are tested against the Receiving Member’s Annual Allowance (or Money Purchase Annual Allowance)
• SIPP’s can be expensive and cumbersome at holding commercial property as this is regarded as a non-standard asset
• SIPP’s are regulated by the FCA and HMRC
• SSAS’s are all regulated by HMRC and Trustees of multi-member SSASs are also regulated by The Pensions Regulator (TPR)

• Multi-member SSASs allow Sponsoring Employers the ability to make Unallocated Contributions and receive upfront Tax Relief without the Spreading of Relief up to £500,000 per annum – saving 19% to 25% corporation tax immediately
• All assets held within the SSAS are free or Corporation Tax, Income Tax, Capital Gains take and Inheritance Tax
• SSAS is a tax efficient wrapper whenregistered by HMRC as a UKRegistered Pension Scheme
• Personal and Business assets can be transferred into the SSAS in full or partial settlement of Cash Contribution Debts
• Rental from commercial property enters the SSAStax allowably from the sponsoring employer, to then grow free of tax in the SSAS (as opposed to paying rent to a landlord)
• Loan Back repayments are paid into the SSAS tax allowably from the sponsoring employer, to then grow free of tax in the SSAS (as opposed to repaying a loan to a bank)
• Adding additional family members to your SSAS (up to 11 people) can create a tax efficient family trust

No two clients ever have the same circumstances or needs. SSAS is highly adaptable, offering a wide array of solutions and options to suit virtually all circumstances. SSAS is designed for business owners. Have a look and see the more typical uses that we usually see;

• Profitable businesses – SSAS with more than a single member, allows a business to contribute up to £500,000 per annum tax allowably
• Businesses who borrow money from a bank or other lender – SSAS allows a business to borrow up to 50%of the SSAS value to be used in the business
• People and business who already own commercial property – a SSAS can purchase and own commercial property, land or development land
• The asset holder – existing personal or business assets can be transferred into a SSAS, very tax efficiently
• The SIPP holder – SSAS offers far more flexibility and options than a SIPP. Many business owners who are SIPP holders, change to SSAS
• The protection seeker – assets / value held within a SSAS is protected from litigation, tribunals, administration or liquidation or creditor actions
• The family business – SSAS by default creates a family trust, which provides an excellent way of succession planning and tax management
• The property / land investor – SSAS can purchase land for development and even structure a JV to develop that land, or sell the land tax efficiently with a changed planning status
• The Doctors / Dentists / Solicitors – Professionals have tended to seek flexible group pension structures, SSAS is ideally suited for grouped ownership structures such as solicitors, dentists and doctors

• Ability to use a general fund within the SSAS and for the employer to make Unallocated Pension Contributions
• SSAS can purchase and own Commercial Property and Land
• SSAS can develop Land and Commercial Property into Residential Property as long as it is sold prior to that property being habitable
• Owners of Commercial Property can pledge the ownership of the property into a SSAS very tax efficiently
• SSAS can lend 50% of it’s value to the members own business
• SSAS can lend up to 100% of it’s value to any third party business 
• SSAS can have up to 11 members which essentially creates a long term tax free family trust
• SSAS is free of Income Tax, Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax

SSAS is designed for UK business owners and the associated officers of the business, such as current, past or future Shareholders, Directors or Employees. The SSAS must be sponsored by an active trading company (not an investment company)

A SSAS is a Trust structure with an HMRC Pension approval wrapped around it. It is a stand alone entity with it’s own individual trust arrangement. As a result there are a few parties involved within the process that we provide. Not every SSAS provider will offer the same amount of support and professional structure.

The SSAS providers that we work with are ALL offering the highest level of SSAS service and support which is the role of SSAS Professional Trustee which affords you the highest levels of protection

1. Member Trustee – this is you acting as the beneficial owner of the money held within your SSAS. The SSAS belongs to you and is entirely within your control. All investment decisions are made by you alone. A SSAS can have up to 11 member trustees

2. Sponsoring employer – this your Limited Company or LLP associated to your SSAS. That means that this / these entities are able to contribute value into the SSAS and are also allowed to borrow money from the SSAS

3. Professional Trustee – An (optional)  agency function, where the Professional Trustee acts alongside you as the member Trustee and ensure that all rules and regulations are followed and that your SSAS functions in a fully compliant manner within all rues and within it’s regulatory and reporting environment. The Professional Trustee has no ownership of any assets or value within the SSAS, is not an investment adviser and cannot direct how money is held or invested. You can change your Professional Trustee at any time if you wish

4. SSAS Administrator – The administrator acts alongside the Professional Trustee and will carry out all day to day functions in processing activities to ensure the efficient operation of your SSAS

5. Bank Account – Each SSAS has it’s own individual bank account which the SSAS Trustee will take the appropriate steps to assist to set up for you. You are of course entirely free and able to establish that bank account with any bank that you wish 

6. ICO – As there are a number of parties involved in the administration of the SSAS and as it is a multi-member scheme, each SSAS will be registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)

7. TPR – If you have a SSAS with more than one member, it will be regulated by The Pensions Regulator. TPR will levy nominal regulatory fees against the SSAS which your SSAS Administrator / Trustee will advise you of when they arise 

As a SSAS is an individual entity in it’s own right, it requires that a Bank Account is established for the SSAS individually. This account will accept any payments that you contribute or transfer into the SSAS, and it will make payments of loan capital out, purchase assets, receive rent payments, loan repayments in and so on. 

The Professional Trustee / Administrators will take the appropriate steps to assit you to set a bank account up for your SSAS. This is a specialist type of bank account that would typiclaly not be availabe from a local high street branch of a traditonal bank, or indeed an online bank.

You are of course entirely free and able to set this account up with any bank that you wish. Please let your Professional Trutee’s know if you intend to create your own bank account. 

• Each SSAS must be sponsored by an actively trading Limited Company
• That means that this Company is able to make contributions into the SSAS and the SSAS is able to invest in that company (subject to a criteria laid out in the Finance Act 2004)
• For the SSAS to be approved by HMRC and retain it’s approval, there must be no 30 day period or more where the company has not been trading within the last 12 months
• It is important that we are able to evidence that your company is actively trading

SSAS has an extremely wide scope of investment choice and is much more flexible than most other pension types. SSAS allows you to invest into an HMRC approved investment type. The choice of investment is entirely down to you as the Member Trustee of your own SSAS

Unlike most pension structures that you are most likely familiar with, SSAS does not provide you with a prescribed investment portfolio or structure. All monies contributed or transferred into SSAS will be paid into the SSAS Bank account, and the choice of investment is thereafter entirely at your direction and discretion

The SSAS Administrators and Professional Trustees are not investment advisers and take no part in the selection, provision or management of your investments

1. You can loan money to your own Company or Companies or indeed to third party / unconnected companies. 

2. You can directly purchase commercial property or land 

3. You can seek any other HMRC approved investment which can include Bank accounts, Investment platforms, Trading platforms and so on

• A sponsoring or Participating employer can borrow up to 50% of the net value of the SSAS, to be used in the business for any commercial purpose
• The Loan needs to be repaid over a period of up to 5 years, and on a capital repayment basis
• Draft loan documents will be provided by the SSAS Administrator, but Member Trustees are always advised to seek their own legal advice
• A commercial rate of interest must be charged that is commercially viable for both the SSAS and the Borrower
• That interest payment is also tax allowable when repaid by the sponsoring employer to the SSAS
• A first legal charge over an asset, valued at least as equal to the value of the loan plus the interest over the whole term, assecurity is required to satisfy HMRC rules
• There are a few different ways of granting this security and the security can be provided by any party that is willing to grant it

• The SSAS may lend up to 100% of it’s value to other third party businesses, providing that they are completely unconnected to the SSAS, it’s Employers and Trustees
• This can be a very advantageous way of securing high/higher returns on short term loans to well researched commercial opportunities
• The terms on this type of loan are flexible, including interest only repayment, longer repayment periods and so on
• Security is recommended for commercial reasons

• See our presentation on “pledging” assets in this website – this shows how an existing commercial property can be added to the SSAS, either of owned personally by the member, or their business
• This can have significant tax benefits for the individual and their business
• Owning commercial property within a SSAS, essentially shelters it from Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance tax and Income tax 
• The asset can be passed on through generations if the member adds their family to the SSAS
• The business owner can lease the premises from their SSAS and occupy the premises with their own business, or they can be leased to any other business / party
• If the member uses the premises for their own business, they effectively become their own landlord (the SSAS is their Landlord)
• The rent payment that their business pays to their SSAS, is fully tax allowable in businesses accounts
• The rent payment is made to the SSAS and adds to the value of the SSAS in a tax free environment 

• Multi-member SSASs allow Sponsoring Employers the ability to make Unallocated Contributions and receive upfront Tax Relief without the Spreading of Relief up to £500,000 per annum. When making high value contributions, we always recommend having a specialist independent advisory report created to provide rationale and all calculations to verify and satisfy this process if HMRC were to ever query the contributions
• The potential for tax savings on this is immense
• The Annual Allowance of£60,000 per annum (or Money Purchase Annual Allowance of £4,000 per annum) applies when Unallocated Funds are allocated to Members Funds within the SSAS

• SSAS will accept the transfers of existing pension benefits from all sources
• If a member has an existing Final Salary or Defined Benefit pension scheme (DB), this can be accepted into the SSAS subject to independent financial advice being sought from a FCA authorised, qualified and regulated adviser, which we can assist you to seek through our professional network if required
• Defined contribution schemes (DC) can be transferred, as the SSAS Trustees request the transfer value from your existing ceding scheme Trustees
• By transferring various pensions in to the SSAS, a SSAS member can consolidate all of their pensions in to one structure
• Adding more value to the SSAS gives the member more flexibility to do more things with that value, i.e. Loan Back to their business, Buying Commercial property, Investment projects and so on
• There is no requirement that you transfer existing pensions to the SSAS
• If you elect, as a SSAS Trustee to transfer any existing pension structures to the SSAS, the Professional SSAS Administrator can work with you on that process and handle the administration of that process for the SSAS – they cannot provide any advice on the suitability of that transfer
• You are able to seek independent financial advice if you so wish at any time
• Neither myself nor the SSAS Administrators are FCA regulated, as we are not required to be so, as SSAS is not a retail / FCA regulated product, as it is an Occupational Pension Scheme
• The SSAS trustees reserve the right to charge an admin fee for the administration of your pension transfer instructions
• Your SSAS Consultant has no commercial or financial interest in the value of your SSAS and therefore has no direct or indirect interest, authority to undertake or motivation in seeking or encouraging transfers of any value into the SSAS from any external source. The SSAS does not provide an investment strategy or portfolio, rather that process is entirely at the discretion of the SSAS Member Trustees – For a pension transfer to be viable, you must be connected to your limited company by an employment contract, show three payslips and bank statements showing the receipt of those three income payments, at least, and your compantymust be making a minimum contribution of £100 per month to your SSAS

Please see a summary of the process and requirements in the document here

• SSAS is an Occupational Pension Scheme (OPS), the same as many millions of employer schemes across the UK
• OPS rules are Governed by HMRC and multi member SSAS schemes are Regulated by The Pensions Regulator (TPR)
• All SSAS’s must be approved and registered with HMRC, and given an individual PSTR number (Pension Scheme Tax Reference number) before they can be regarded as in existence for tax purposes
• The Scheme Administrator works directly with HMRC to approve schemes on behalf of applicants
• To preserve their approved and regulatory status, to protect their clients and their business, they operate to the highest ethical standards
• The SSAS Administrator exists primarily to protect and secure all of the SSAS’s and members from making errors or falling foul of HMRC or regulations
• All SSAS’s have their own distinct bank account
• That bank account is usually held by Cater Allen or Metro bank as these two banks specialise in this area. Access to that bank account is via a joint signatory mandate (at least), no funds can be accessed without joint authority. Yours as a member Trustee and the Professional Trustee or Administrator
• Cater Allen & Metro Bank, as a UK Registered Banks are FCA and PRA Regulated and deposits are protected by the FSCS
• Cater Allen is a Commercial Bank subsidiary of Santander. Metro Bank is a challenger bank established her 10 years.
• All money held in assets purchased by the SSAS are held in Trust for members of the SSAS. This is a formal individual trust, which means that your pension schemes money and assets are always held separately for your benefit and are never pooled within a Master trust. This differs entirely from a SIPP Pension
• Most SSAS clients hold assets they have elected to own, directly in the SSAS, which essentially means that they as Member Trustees have full control over the asset

1. We require that you complete our online SSAS Application survey.
2. We need a personal information for each member and information for the Company and details of the intended SSAS
3. This will allow us to create formal SSAS Trust paperwork, which we will require you to sign
4. Fee invoices are then issued to you and paid at the initial application stage 
5. Those papers are then submitted to HMRC for their approval of the SSAS via our Administrator colleagues
6. HMRC assess and approve each SSAS application individually. It is impossible to predict exactly how long it will take HMRC to do that, however it will most likely be around 2 to 3 months currently although could be sooner
7. Upon approval the SSAS is operational 
8. Once approved the SSAS ban account ca then be opened
9. Pension transfers can then be started if you choose to do so

We will ask you to complete a simple ONLINE APPLICATION to include each individual that you wish to be a member trustee of the SSAS as well as a information about your business and information for the proposed SSAS

YOU CAN COMPLETE THE APPLICATION HERE

We have noted some key points below to help you complete the SSAS Application: 

SSAS INFORMATION

1. Scheme name – As the SSAS will be an identifibale legal entity, it needs to be given its own name. This name can be anything that you wish, although it is usually related to your business name or your family name, such as “The ABC Ltd SSAS Pension” or “The Jones Family Trust” for example  

2. How will the SSAS be invested – this is also just for general information and is not a commitmnet from you to undertake any specific actions or choices

3. How will the SSAS be funded – this is not a commitment from you or your business, it is simply an indictaion to the SSAS adminstrators of how the SSAS will be funded  

COMPANY INFORMATION

1. VAT number – if your business is VAT registered please insert the VAT registration number here. If your business is not VAT registered, please insert “Not vat registered”

2. PAYE reference – if your business operates PAYE please insert the PAYE reference number here. If your business does not use PAYE, please insert “No PAYE scheme”  

3. Corporation Tax reference number – every Limited Company has a 10 digit numerical Corporation Tax Reference or Corporation UTR number. HMRC issue this number to you as soon as a Company is established 

4. Participating employer – this section should only be completed if you are including more than one Company in your SSAS application  

5. Directors – Please include the personal details of all Directors regardless if they will be a Member Trustee of this SSAS or not   

PERSONAL INFORMATION

1. Each person that you wish to be a Member Trustee of the SSAS should complete their details on a separate form   

2. Unique Tax Reference number (UTR) – this is an essential part of your application. This is a 10 digit numerical reference number that HMRC issue to you. You will already have such a number if you have ever registered for self assessment with HMRC. The number will be included on all correspondence that you have from HMRC. If you cannot find the number, your Accountant should be able to assist. If you don’t have one, you will need to apply for one using the gov.uk or HMRC websites and register for self assessment or for a Unique Tax Reference number  

3. Existing Pensions – If you intend to transfer existing pensions into the SSAS, you can note those details here. (Please see compliance information on that process elsewhere in this website). If you wish to use the services of the SSAS Adminstators / Professional Trustee to help you to do that, once the SSAS is set up, please be sure to make contact with the SSAS Adminstators / Professional Trustee to help ypu expedite your wishes, inserting the details on the form just now does not create that instrcution and you will need to follow up on this when the SSAS is set up and approved  

4. Expression of Wish – please be sure to note who you wish to receive your SSAS pension benefits in the event of your death. This is not an absolute instruction, rather it provides guidance to the SSAS Trustees in the event of your death if you die intestate (without a clear and legally binding Will) This document will be available for you to access via the SSAS Administrator once you SSAS has been established and approved by HMRC 

Please be aware that the HMRC SSAS approval process can take a considerable amount of time, which is entirely and only within the control of HMRC.

We are unable in any way to understand how long that will take, determine what stage an application is at, or indeed have any means of speeding the application along or checking where it is in the process. HMRC do not provide that form of service

Please refer to our summary of the time line for setting up a new SSAS here

SSAS has various pricing elements: 

1. SSAS application and set up fee

2. Annual Administration charges 

3. Ad hoc admin charges for specific actions, such as Commercial Property purchase, Loan Back and Third Party Unconnected Loans for example

4. Optional retained SSAS Consultancy fee

SSAS Structure and use – We are able to advise you as a Business Owner on the set up, use and purposes of SSAS. We are providing that guidance to your business and you are acting as an officer of that business

Investment advice – We are not FCA regulated investment advisers and are not required to be so, as that is not our role or function. You are encouraged to seek FCA regulated Independent Financial Advice at any time on any aspect of SSAS which is entirely at your own discretion 

Pension transfer advice – We are not FCA regulated investment advisers and are not required to be so, as that is not our role or function. You are encouraged to seek FCA regulated Independent Financial Advice at any time on any aspect of SSAS, and indeed will require to seek such advice if you wish to transfer a defined benefit pension with a value in excess of £30,000. For all other transfers you can choose if you wish to seek that advice or not 

Legal / Tax – Within our extensive network we work alongside Chartered Tax Planners and Solictors who you can engage directly with and seek specialist indemnified advice from them as required 

• SSAS is a free standing trust not permanently tied to a SSAS Provider
• Each SSAS is individually approved by HMRC and each SSAS has it’s own Pension Scheme Tax Reference Number (PSTR)
• The Member Trustees of a SSAS own the SSAS
• You as SSAS Member Trustees direct and control the SSAS
• The Professional Trustee / Administrator uses their veto (as a Joint Trustee) to keep your SSAS on a compliant path
• You can elect to appoint different Professional Trustees & Administrators to the SSAS at your discretion

If the Professional cease trading or liquidate, this wouldn’t expose the funds within your SSAS to any direct risk. You simply appoint new Professional Trustees and Administrators to replace the outgoing one/s

Thera re different levels of service offered and available from SSAS operators:

1. SSAS Practitioner – lowest level of service. The practitioner will act upon your instructions as the Scheme Administrator. Reactive function, not proactive. You are the sole SSAS trustee and Scheme Administrator, with all responsibility for compliance, regulation and functioning of the SSAS sitting with you. With some SSAS providers, this is the only service that they offer, and some can charge significantly higher fees for this function, ironically, which is a far lesser service than we offer

2. SSAS Administrator – Interim service level, where you are the sole SSAS trustee, but the Scheme Administration function (responsibility to report and potential tax charge risks) are undertaken by a third party. Although not a fellow Trustee, the administrator will take an active role in assisting you with compliance and regulation and the functioning of the SSAS

3. SSAS Professional Trustee – Taking on full responsibility with you for acting in line with all Trustee duties and responsibilities. This role confers responsibility upon the professional trustee to act and guide your SSAS within all rules and regulations, alongside you as the Member Trustee. 

BE SURE TO UNDERSTAND THE SERVICE OFFERED BY A SSAS PROVIDER AS THEY ARE NOT ALL THE SAME AND THE DIFFERENCES ARE MAYBE NOT IMMEDIATELY OBVIOUS