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As you’re building your pension, there are some tax restrictions you need to think about. And these restrictions apply to your pension with us – and with all other UK-based pension schemes.

You have different options open to you depending on your age. And even if you’re not able to start taking your benefits yet, there are things you can do to prepare yourself for your future.

You have different options open to you depending on your age. And even if you’re not able to start taking your benefits yet, there are things you can do to prepare yourself for your future.

If you’ve incurred an Annual Allowance tax charge, you may be able to use Scheme Pays, depending on the amount of the charge. With Scheme Pays, USS pays the Annual Allowance charge direct to HMRC from your USS benefits on your behalf.

When you are informing HMRC via your tax return of your intention to use Scheme Pays, you will need to give them the USS tax reference number of 00330004RR.

This will depend on a number of things, such as the rate of income tax you pay, any tax relief to which you’re entitled and whether you’ve exceeded the Annual Allowance.

Your Annual Member Statement includes the value of all the benefits you have built up to 31 March 2025, including any transfers in, added years AVCs, CRB benefit AVCs and any other additional contributions you may have made.

Now you're thinking about retiring, it's important to know how the process works and how long it takes. This timeline is for members who are still paying contributions. Once you tell your employer when you want to retire, it usually takes around three months to complete the process. This timeline gives you all the information you need for each step.

There are all sorts of things that can change with your job, which could impact your pension. These include changing employers, a promotion or changing your working hours, for example.