SIPPs and SSASs
A SIPP and a SSAS are both pensions in which you choose the investments.
A SIPP and a SSAS are both pensions in which you choose the investments.
A SIPP is a personal pension, and a SSAS is a scheme a company sets up for its directors and staff.
Both are registered pension schemes. Contributions to either get the same tax relief, count toward the same annual allowance, and can be drawn from the same minimum pension age.
A SIPP is held with a pension provider, which runs it and holds the assets on your behalf. A SSAS is run by its own trustees, who are commonly the members themselves, and it can lend to the company that sponsors it.
The advisers for this subject: Sunny Bharj and Tony Springer
gov.uk and HMRC Pensions Tax Manual, checked 26 October 2026. 2026/27 rules. The Budget on 28 October 2026 can change any of them.
A self-invested personal pension is a personal pension that lets you choose the specific investments: funds, shares, investment trusts, cash, and commercial property. You open it yourself with a provider, and an employer can pay into it for you.
Each provider decides which investments its SIPP will accept, so two SIPPs can offer very different ranges.
A small self-administered scheme is an occupational pension scheme a company sets up for its own people, most often its directors. The trustees take the investment decisions, and a professional administrator commonly handles the scheme's registration and returns to HMRC.
A SSAS can hold the same range of investments as a SIPP. It can also lend to the company that sponsors it, on conditions set by law. Can a SSAS lend money to my company?
Yes, up to half the fund, if five conditions are met. A loan that misses one is taxed as an unauthorised payment.
Read more →The rules allow it. Residential property is taxable property for a pension, and the charges on the member and the scheme are severe.
Read more →Yes. The company claims it as an expense, no National Insurance is due on it, and your salary does not cap it.
Read more →Small self-administered scheme. It is a company pension scheme, set up by an employer and run by trustees, in which the members direct the investments.
The company establishes the scheme itself. A specialist administrator is commonly appointed to register it with HMRC, keep its records and file its returns, and the charges for that work vary between firms.
Yes. The annual allowance covers everything paid into all your pensions in the tax year, so contributions to both count toward one £60,000 limit.
Yes. An employer can pay into a SIPP for you in the same way as into any other personal pension. Can my company pay into my pension?
From 6 April 2027 most unused pension funds and pension death benefits count toward your estate for inheritance tax, and that applies to both. Pensions and inheritance tax
A member can transfer between registered pension schemes, provided the scheme being left allows it and the receiving scheme accepts it. Any property or loan the SSAS holds has to be dealt with first. Can I transfer my pension into a SIPP?
The value of investments and any income from them can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invest. Pension benefits and their tax treatment depend on your circumstances and on current rules, which can change. Transferring out of a defined benefit scheme means giving up guaranteed benefits, and is appropriate only in some circumstances. Any recommendation depends on a full assessment of your circumstances. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice. Figures are 2026/27.
A personal pension in which you choose the investments, with the same tax relief, allowances and minimum age as any other.
Read the answer →A SIPP suits one person choosing their own investments. A SSAS is a company scheme, run by trustees, that can lend to the company.
Read the answer →Yes, through a SIPP or a SSAS. Your company can be the tenant if it pays a commercial rent.
Read the answer →From most pensions, yes. A final salary pension worth more than £30,000 needs regulated advice first, and some public sector schemes cannot move.
Read the answer →
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