Payroll Migration Update

Payroll on colourful tie dye style background

Part of our vision as a Fund is ensuring correct pensions are paid timely, through the service being administered effectively and cost efficiently. To ensure we can continue to deliver an effective service to our pensioners we have been steadily working towards our own in-house payroll system, which previously has been paid by Wiltshire Council's Payroll Team.

This means that for pensioners migrating there will be a change to accessing monthly payslips, moving from rPowered (Wiltshire Council's system) to My Wiltshire Pension, our secure online member portal.

We are delighted to share that this system is now ready, and as of the 25^th October all pensioners will be paid directly from Wiltshire Pension Fund's Payroll Team.

By bringing this function in- house we are integrating Payroll with our administration system, ensuring that we have one single, reliable data source for greater speed and accuracy, as well as a complete and compliant audit of all payments. We are also fully integrated with HMRC's Real Time Information (RTI) reporting, supporting all message types and automating response retrieval, tax code updates, and PAYE tax payovers.

Pensioners already on My Wiltshire Pension

If you retired on or after January 2024 and accessing your payslips via My Wiltshire Pension, there will be no change to how you access your Payslips. However as part of this process, we have had to update our tax reference with HMRC, meaning you may receive a notification saying you have been made a 'Leaver' on our previous HMRC tax reference, as of 31 October 2024. You will then be a 'Starter' on our new tax reference, from 1 November 2024.

Please be assured that this will not affect your pension payments or tax deductions in any way and your next payment will continue to be on 25^th October. Due to this migration payslips will be available slightly later than usual, from 24^th October.

You will notice the change of HMRC tax reference from your November payslip onwards.

My Wiltshire Pension, our secure online member portal:

View your Payslips
Check and update your personal details
View and download annual P60's
Securely upload documents
Contact us

Important Information

If you wish to receive paper payslips you need to opt in by contacting the Pensioner Payroll Team at pensionpayroll@wiltshire.gov.uk. You will usually only receive payslips for April, May, and any month where your net payment changes by more than £5. You will also receive a P60.

Please Note: Documents are not being transferred from rPowered to My Wiltshire Pension so it is important you download and save these for your records. After 31 December 2024 you will no longer have access to rPowered and your previous payslips/P60s.

I am already on My Wiltshire Pension, how does this affect me?

If you retired on or after January 2024 and accessing your payslips via My Wiltshire Pension, there will be no change to how you access your Payslips. However as part of this process, we have had to update our tax codes with HMRC, meaning you may receive a notification saying you have been made a 'Leaver' on our previous HMRC tax reference, as of 31 October 2024. You will then be a 'Starter' on our new tax reference, from 1 November 2024.

When will my pension be paid?

There is no change to the payment date for your pension, this will remain as the 25th of each month or the previous working day if that falls on a weekend

How can I access previous Payslips?

Documents are not being transferred from rPowered to My Wiltshire Pension so it is important you download and save these for your records. After 31 December 2024 you will no longer have access to rPowered and your previous payslips/P60s.

Why do I need to opt in again to receive paper Payslips?

As we are moving to a new system, your preferences need to be updated you can do this by emailing pensionpayroll@wiltshire.gov.uk. This also ensures that we are sending postal payslips to the correct and most up to date address. You will usually only receive payslips for April, May, and an annual P60.

My details are not correct or I want to change my Bank Details

You can update your personal details by logging into My Wiltshire Pension or emailing the Pensioner Payroll Team at pensionpayroll@wiltshire.gov.uk

My Tax office reference has changed

After the migration to align the two data sets, Pensioners who are already on My Wiltshire Pension will be merged into the legacy tax reference scheme: 034 / W1565

My relative has Financial Power of Attorney or will be looking after my pension for me

If this is a long term arrangement and you are not fit to sign documents, you will need to get a Power of Attorney or a Court of Protection Order. These are legal documents letting family members, or other trusted people, to look after someone's affairs when they can no longer do so. Guidance on this can be found on the Money Helper Website.

Your first payment

You will initially be set up with the standard tax code of 1275L as the Pensions Payroll department will not have details of your personal tax situation. This standard personal allowance provides £12,570 annual tax free income. You will be allocated 1/12 (one twelfth) of this tax-free allowance each month against your gross pension payment.

HMRC will then be notified that you have started to take your pension, who will then inform the Pensioners Payroll department if the tax code needs to be amended and if any arrears are applicable. Please be aware it can take two months for the information to be sent from HMRC to Pensions Payroll and any tax code amendments made.

Income Tax rates and bands

How much Income Tax you pay in each tax year depends on:

How much of your income is above your Personal Allowance
How much of your income falls within each tax band

More information on Tax rates and bands can be found at : www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates

Understanding your Tax Code

Your tax code is used by your employer or pension provider to work out how much Income Tax is deducted from your pay or pension.

Please note HMRC determines your tax code not your employer or Wiltshire Pension Fund.

Your tax code is made up of numbers and letters.

1257L is the tax code currently used for most people who have one job or pension and whose annual personal tax-free allowance is £12,570. The numbers in your tax code tell your employer or pension provider how much tax-free income you get in that tax year.

Letters in your tax code refer to your situation and how it affects your Personal Allowance.

More information on Tax codes can be found at www.gov.uk/tax-codes/what-your-tax-code-means

Why your tax code might change

HMRC may update your tax code if:

You start to get income from an additional job or pension.
You get taxable state benefits.
You claim Marriage Allowance.

How to update your tax code

In most cases, HMRC will automatically update your tax code when your income changes. They will usually get this information electronically from your employer or pension provider, as part of their monthly payroll process.

If HMRC has the wrong information about your income, you may be given an incorrect tax code.

To correct your tax code, make sure HMRC has up-to-date details about your income.

If you think your tax code is wrong, please visit www.gov.uk/tax-codes/how-to-update-your-tax-code to check your income tax, find out how to update your tax code, and contact HMRC.

Your Employer or Pension Provider cannot contact HMRC on your behalf, your income tax liability is a personal matter.

After you report your change.

HMRC will contact you if they change your tax code, and will also tell your employer or pension provider that your tax code has changed.

For more information on Tax and your pension please visit the Money Helpers Website

If have any queries or need any help, please contact the team via our Contact Us pages.

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