CTM08349 | Corporation Tax: management expenses: pension contributions: payment by third parties
From HM Revenue & Customs · Company Taxation Manual
to S199 only apply to payments made by employers and former employers (including sponsoring employers of the scheme).
It would be rare for a company to make a contribution, ‘other than as employer’, which does not fall with to S199, but there are three main possible circumstances:
contributions required by the Pensions Regulator,
contributions under guarantee arrangements, and
voluntary contributions.
In such cases, the payment should be considered on first principles (is it in fact an expense of managing the company’s investment business since it is not deemed to be so by ) to establish whether it qualifies for relief under . The timing rules of () will apply in the absence of any other specific timing rule. In addition, as it is not a payment within to S199 if it is capital in nature it will not be an expense of management.