In this week’s detailed miscellaneous updates which you can read more about below, HMRC publishes research commissioned on the Help to Save Scheme, Government clarifies the tax treatment of payments made under the Capture Redress Scheme, HMRC updates its list of recognised overseas pensions schemes, and HMRC provides a resource to determine if communications received are genuinely from HMRC.
HMRC publishes research commissioned on the Help to Save Scheme
HMRC commissioned Ipsos to carry out research of users and eligible non-users of the Help to Save Scheme. The aim of the research was to gauge the impact of the scheme on long-term savings behaviour and financial resilience of those within the scheme. The evaluation questions were:
- Has Help to Save encouraged new saving behaviours during the life of the account?
- Has Help to Save instilled long-term saving behaviours amongst Users?
- Has Help to Save prompted greater financial resilience amongst Users?
- Why have some of those eligible for a Help to Save account not opened one?
Ipsos conducted 50 interviews with users and eligible non-users of Help to Save between September and November 2023, followed by 1,688 surveys between September 2024 and January 2025. The views in this report are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of HMRC.
Tax treatment of payments made under the Capture Redress Scheme
The Capture Redress Scheme (CRS) arose from findings by the Department for Business and Trade that there was a reasonable likelihood that the Capture software, used in the 1990s, could have caused accounting shortfalls for postmasters, leaving postmasters to pay back these shortfalls to the Post Office. In December 2024, the Government committed to compensating those affected. On 27 October 2025, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury announced that payments in the CRS would be exempt from tax and National Insurance contributions. HMRC has since published a policy paper which you can read here.
HMRC updates list of recognised overseas pensions schemes notification list
HMRC has published a list of recognised overseas pension schemes (ROPS). These are schemes that told HMRC they have met the conditions to be so recognised. The most recent list includes over 25 Irish ROPS.
Check if an email you have received from HMRC is genuine
HMRC has updated its guidance which allows taxpayers to determine if an email received from HMRC is genuine or not. If you receive an email and the specific communication is not listed, you can report the message to HMRC or alternatively check if HMRC uses more than one communication method. The guidance sets out recent communication initiatives, such as notifying taxpayers that their Annual Tax Summary is available for review, and the timeline within which such communications are being made.
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