Having Tax coding problems on your pension

Some people are having tax problems after the handover to Barnett Waddingham. This is not BW’s fault but a problem of communication between HMRC offices. I’m afraid you need to negotiate your tax situation directly with the new HMRC office reference 120/XB84877 the previous office was 428/C107A. Please check your tax code. Some have had their tax doubled and others have lost overseas country double taxation allowances. The Tax office phone number is 03002003300. Barnett Waddingham have uploaded the final P60’s information sent out by AON in previous financial years, in the ‘your documents’ section.

Pension Administrator change over 1st October 2018

From the 1st October you should no longer contact AON re pension administration issues. Please contact Barnett Waddingham, by Phone : +443442643587 or by email : chevron@barnett-waddingham.co.uk  or post : Chevron UK Pension Plan, Barnett Waddingham, St. James House, St James Square, CHELTENHAM, Gloucester, GL50 3PR. Please register with the new pension website., remove old versions of the website history from your browser. then reuse chevronukpension.co.uk.and you should be sent to the new Barnett Waddingham site and sign in. You need your NHI number. N.B. to activate online communications you can trigger this from the BW website, if you go into the tab ‘view documents’ you will see at the top of the page the heading ‘your documents’ if you click the link below that is named ‘communication preferences’ you can select your choice within this area and it will be effective straight away.

Chevron Heritage Nominee – U.S. Withholding Tax – Form W-8BEN Expiry/Renewal

Chevron Heritage Nominee – U.S. Withholding Tax – Form W-8BEN Expiry/Renewal A recent audit has identified that some Chevron Heritage Nominee share plan participants US tax declaration Form W-8BEN (“Form”) expired on 31st December 2017 and as a result, Link Asset Services (“Link”) does not hold a valid Form for them. The Form is a U.S. legal tax declaration. This means incorrect U.S. Withholding Tax (“Tax”) deductions were applied to the two dividends that have been paid to Chevron Heritage Nominee Participants since 1st January 2018. The first dividend, at a rate determined by the expired Form, and the second, at the default tax rate of 30%, to ensure compliance with US Tax Regulations. The participants identified in the Chevron Heritage Nominee share plan  were sent an affidavit at the bottom of a new W-8BEN Form on 23rd July, which will enable Link to correct the Tax deductions retrospectively for the last two dividends. Please Note: ·         The Form received in the post now requires two signatures in the Certification section. ·         Link will not be able to recover the excess Tax deductions if either the Form or affidavit is returned without having been signed (where it states ‘Important’) by 28th September. If Link receives the incomplete Form, instead a further deduction will be made from the next dividend to recover the other 15% not taxed at the first dividend and Chevron Heritage Nominee share plan participants will remain on the higher 30% default tax rate. Further useful information: ·         The Form enables Link to reduce the default Tax rate of 30% paid on dividends where agreed by relevant ‘double taxation treaties’ between the U.S. and your country of tax residency. For example, a UK Tax resident will only pay 15% Tax, ·         Forms received after the above date will be applicable from the next relevant dividend, however Link will not be able to correct the 2018 tax deduction at 30%. ·         To benefit from the Tax rate adjustment in the upcoming dividend, Link requires receipt of the signed Form and affidavit before the next record date in August. If Link receives these documents after the record date and before the final deadline, the Tax rate will default to 30% for the next dividend. ·         Link will accept Forms sent via post and scanned in via email to the postal and email addresses detailed on the Form.   Please note that Link Asset Services is not authorised to provide taxation advice. Some further information can be obtained from this web site:  http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxon/foreign.htm.   For U.S. Tax Residents only Any participants are, or have ever been, a Tax resident of the U.S. you should have a U.S. Social Security Number (“SSN”) or Individual Tax Identification Number (“ITIN”) – the format is usually “123-45-6789”. If you have received this letter it means that you have not currently provided us with a Form W-9 (“Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification”) and might need to. If so please refer to the Guidance Notes.   Finally, should you have any queries then please do not hesitate to contact Link on: Tel: 0371 664 1835 Email: chevron@linkgroup.co.uk

Major Changes to CAPITA

Sale of Capita Asset Services to Link Group  Capita PLC sold Capita Asset Services, the division which services our nominee plans, to Link Group on Monday 6th November.  Link Group are an Australian listed company and the acquisition of CAS is their only operations in the UK. No service disruption is anticipated and all staff who work on the share plans remain unchanged. The Link Group will communicate to the nominee holders shortly. Online portal  Some pensioners may notice changes in the portal.  There have been some developments to modernise it so that it is accessible on tablets for example – Link will communicate these changes at the same time as they inform their nominee holders of the change in company New data requirements  With effect from 3rd January 2018, Link will need to collect nationality and a national client identifier from nominee holders who wish to sell or transfer their shares – there will be guidance on what the identifier is at point of sale, but as an example a British national will need to give their National Insurance number.  This is to satisfy new regulatory reporting requirements under something called MIFID II regulations and isn’t a scam to get people to part with their data! For your information The CEL Nominee Service was established in August 2013 as a transfer option following the vesting of the Chevron United Kingdom Limited Share Incentive Plan (CHUKL SIP) and when the heritage company Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) wound up in 2008. These plans are administered by Link Market Services IRG Trustees Limited (Link) and shares are held by Link (as trustee) in an uncertificated form on your behalf but you remain the beneficial owner of the shares. This means that the shares are treated as if they belong to you. You will continue to receive voting rights on those shares for the Chevron AGM, and you will continue to receive dividends. You can also view your personal shareholding at www.mychevronshares.com, or contact the Plan administrators, Link Asset Services, on 0371 664 1835 or email chevron@linkgroup.co.uk.

Chevron Retiree Lunches

The CUKPA has a plan to try to assist organisers in running unsubsidised  lunches. This will replace the CUK Retiree Welfare Programme of lunches which were subsidised. The CUKRWP is no longer in existance. Please check the Lunches page , goto Lunches

CUKPA offers a new service for money transfers.

Make International Money Transfers Easy with OFX / UKFOREX. Transferring your money internationally can be expensive and stressful. Chevron UK Pensioners’ Association has partnered with OFX to secure preferred low exchange rates and no originating fees on international money transfers. OFX services can be used for transfers such as managing investments and savings, purchasing a home or car, family support, and general relocation expenses. To access these enhanced CUKPA rates, click here. Any questions? Reach out directly to Ben Winterroth: ben.winterroth@ofx.com

My Head is my Shed by Ralph Edmunds

By Ralph Edmunds
The move that we recently made set my mind thinking, it amazed me just how much essential junk that people can accumulate.  The old saying that junk expands to fill the space available is so true. Most people have an emporium of essential things that just might come in handy, for instance my Dad’s shed is legend amongst those who are lucky enough to know of it. My Dad is often approached by people who ask “Dave have you got ‘so and so’ in your shed?” Or conversations often find the solution “Don’t worry Dave must have one in his shed.” The lack of access to a ‘shed’ of my own was a very serious problem that I had when I first left home.  Where was the drawer full of essential empty carrier bags or the empty jam jars that were always available?  I then realised these things are acquired over many years and cannot be purchased anywhere, although Lakeland come pretty close. My mind started racing (a gentle jog more like). Men seem to prefer cellars and sheds, these are places that hold useful things that do not go well in a family house, however there are houses inhabited by men that boast pieces of car engine in sinks.  Cellars are not places for the faint hearted, they are often dark, damp dangerous places with very differing smells.  I remember as a child I was very wary of cellars but sheds were fine as my Dad and granddad had them. Sheds are places that are readily available to young children but cellars are places of mystery that are only inhabited by adults and gremlins.  My uncle Les had a wonderful cellar full of tools for lorries of the past, he had been a mechanic in the times when tools were not readily available, if you needed something, you had to make it yourself.  Alas as time moved on, Imperial became AF then metric and the tools became useless.   But like so many ½ empty tins of paint and various other things that were either too good to throw away or would come in handy one day, they achieved some sort of immortality and lived on in the cellars of various dads. I realise now that I am not doing proper justice to sheds, not only is there a shed in the garden but also there is the gardening shed.  I am not completely familiar with this icon of English life but I understand that it contains all kinds of garden tools, bags of compost and hosts of drying things ready for next year.  I hope to become more knowledgeable about these things as I now have two in my new garden.  We had a greenhouse as well, but I was so phased by it’s rustic-ness, that we released it.  It now lives happily with Karen’s dad. Another repository for ‘junk’ is the attic, a common occurrence in Enid Blyton stories and  others of that ilk.  After reading such books I demanded to know where our attic was, had it been explored and if so what treasure had been found.  Alas our house only had a loft and had nothing of interest in it.  I was somewhat put out by this but I was to visit my one and only attic soon. At the end of our road was the doctor’s house, a large forbidding house and I was a friend of his youngest son.  This house was a different world, they had an attic and a cellar.  Both of which I visited but alas no treasure. Men do not have it all their own way, Mums are more clever, they have many places to accumulate junk things that might come in useful, the recipe books and cuttings that hold the secrets of many treats and delights.  My Nan possessed a cook book, so ancient, that it had no gas or electric settings, it just said things like ‘build up the fire’.   But in it was the recipe for ‘reesoles’ (my Nan was a master of getting words wrong, she meant rissoles) but reesoles they were and always will be.  We have tried to recreate the wonders of reesoles but like Merlin’s spell book only the master can create.  Bread Pudding,   is a thing of great mystery, there is no recipe, every mum learned it from their Mum.  The only certainty about it is that whoever makes it says “it’s not as good as my Mum’s.” Another wonder that cannot be bought but must be lovingly created is the button tin.  In this are held such wonders. My Mum’s holds three red ladybird shaped buttons from a dressing-gown that I had when I was about 4 years old.  The things in this box are not necessarily to be reused but hold a much more magical and psychological purpose.  The tin can be used by harassed mothers to quiet rowdy kids, when asked where is ‘so and so’?  She can reply “look in the button tin” she knows they will be gone for ages.  Another use of this tin is a party game, ’who can remember which garment did this button come off of?’ The button tin game can be played by adults as well, after all who else would know what a single suspender was? I gained possession of my great grandmother’s tin after her demise. I spent ages going through it; my Mum even remembered some of the buttons. The only thing that I kept was a 5 pfennig coin (my great grandfather must have bought it back from France in WW1); it had no use or value but was too precious for her to throw away. Garages are another place where ‘one-day’ useful items are kept, some unusual people use them solely for storing their cars but I understand that this is rare.  I have been told that they are excellent for storing home-made beers and wines. Again ½ empty tins of paint and part used rolls of wallpaper are favourites for the garage owner. I have little experience of garages; we were too poor down our street to have them (except for the Dr’s house). Needlework boxes and bags of old wool are other fine places to keep junkprecious items, I could continue ad nauseum about these things but I intend to quit while I’m ahead. But as I relate these tales a new phenomenon is arising, now that we have become ‘middle-class’ we possess a utility-room.  It is of fiendish design; it has a sink, a worktop, a cat-flap, a freezer and potential for so much more. This could become a ‘female’ shed as Karen has more input to it than I (my only input is 2 boxes of old LPs, perfectly preserved that are soon to go into the loft.  Don’t worry there will be no treasure there.) The utility-room is acquiring a life of its own; it is already growing shelves of things that are of vital importance.  Karen tells me that it will be very useful in the future for items too precious to be left outside in the shed. Whether it be a shed, needlework box or garage wonderful things appear from them and things that appear beyond hope somehow get  the ‘Lazarus’ treatment and live on. I am often envious of people that create.  I’ve been a wheelchair user for about 13 years and have no ‘shed’.  Then it occurred to me, my head has all the attributes of a ‘shed’.   It has things stored away neatly in places that can be readily accessed and a pile of ‘junk’ in which sometimes I find things of use.  But only rarely do I find things of pith and import though. Has it ever occurred to you that ancient burial mounds and pyramids are really super sheds or cellars for the afterlife. Ralph ‘I’m sure there’s one in here somewhere’ Edmunds Return to Members Contributions Association News