RETIREMENTShould HMRC allow discretion?

In the dim and distant past, when Small Self-Administered Schemes were in their infancy, the rules for their operation were contained in a document called Joint Office Memorandum 58. The underlying legislation was covered by a few paragraphs in Finance Act 1973, which was subsequently updated by the Income and Corporation Taxes Act (ICTA) 1988. These documents provided the basic rules and any variances from them had to be agreed. The concept of the Pensioneer Trustee was then introduced to make sure that the Scheme was run in accordance with HMRC's wishes. Over the next 27 years, numero...