HMRC's managing pension scheme service is still unavailable after it was out of action for more than a week.
Ssas providers have aired their frustration as they cannot service clients properly and have been waiting for more than a week for the service to be operational.
Originally HMRC said the online service would be unavailable “due to unexpected circumstances” from January 25 at 4:15pm until February 5 at 10am
But it has since said the service would remain out of service until 11am on February 7.
“This has cost clients and Ssas trustees hundreds of thousands if not millions now,” according to Nathan Bridgeman, director at SeaBridge Ssas.
“The HMRC system that's down is the one we submit and get new schemes approved on,” he explained.
“To get transfers into a client's Ssas, ceding schemes will often need a screenshot of the page showing the receiving scheme is HMRC approved. Property purchases with tight completion dates are being held up because of this.
“This problem and consumer detriment is compounded this year as there is a rush to get property sold from your company or personally before capital gains tax costs are higher from 6 April (CGT allowance reducing).
“This is unacceptable. HMRC has the capability and capacity to fix this in hours not days or weeks.”
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We apologise for the impact this is having on users. We quickly identified the problem and are working hard to resolve it.”
amy.austin@ft.com
