Michael Gibson

I am having serious issues obtaining a TTFAC from my existing pension provider which is acceptable to my second pension provider for the purpose of making a withdrawal of a tax-free lump sum from my small second pension. To date I have taken no tax-free cash. When I took benefits from my first/primary workplace pension some time ago I opted to take it all benefits as income and waived the tax-free lump sum. I now want a TTFAC that reflects this but my workplace pension provider really seems unclear what the certificate should contain. They tell me that the certificate should state the remaining amount of my tax-free allowances. E.g the certificate they have provided states that my Lump Sum Allowance is £268,275. However, the provider of my small second pension tells me the certificate should state the amounts of tax-free cash I have already taken (in my case £0.00) and that they will calculate the remaining amount of my lump sum allowance and that they expect that the certificate should, for example, state that my "lump sum transitional tax free amount " is £0.00. When I read the HMRC tax manual I feel i agree with my second provider. In chapters PTM174100 and PTM174300 in particular it refers to two numbers which should appear on the certificate: • lump sum transitional tax free amount  • lump sum and death benefit transitional tax-free amount  In my case, having not taken any tax-free cash prior to 5 April 2024, my interpretation is that these figures, in my case, should both be stated on the certificate as £0.00 as I have taken no tax free cash. This would then mean that when testing my tax-free withdrawal from my second provider, they would deduct this amount (£0.00) from the standard Lump Sum Allowance (£268,275) to determine my remaining allowance and therefore allow me to take up to that amount as a tax-free amount (subject to it being less than 25% of the value of my pension pot). Which is correct? It would be really helpful if HMRC would publish a "sample" certificate as I am presently stuck between a rock and a hard place in trying to access the tax-free element of my small second pension pot.

Hi. Thanks for your prompt reply. For clarity then, if someone has some form of LTA protection, then the standard lifetime amount referred to in the guidance is that individuals’s protected sum and their pension provider needs to reference that amount. Thank you.

In PTM174300 under the section “Certification” which deals with the content of the certificate to be issued it states that one of the elements to be included on the certificate is: “The individual’s lifetime allowance previously-used amount expressed as a percentage of the standard lifetime allowance” Where an individual has LTA protection in place (eg Individual Protection 2016) it seems incorrect to refer to the percentage of LTA used with reference to the “standard lifetime allowance”. Surely this should refer to the lifetime allowance percentage applicable to the individual concerned which might be Fixed or Individual protection etc? As someone with Individual Protection all statements from my pension provider reference the percentage of LTA used with reference to the protected sum. Please can someone clarify what this requires and if it is in relation the the standard LTA amount, why that is the case.