Judicial Pension Scheme: How Pension Tax Works for the Judiciary

The scheme at a glance

Who it is for

The judiciary, under the Judicial Pension Scheme 2022

Accrual rate

2.5% of your pensionable earnings earned as pension each year

Tax status

Tax-unregistered: no Annual Allowance on the main scheme, and no tax relief on contributions

Normal Pension Age

Linked to your State Pension Age

How the Judicial Pension Scheme works

The Judicial Pension Scheme 2022 (JPS 2022) is the career-average pension for the judiciary.

How your pension builds:

•You earn 2.5% of your pensionable earnings as pension in each year of service.

•Each year's slice is revalued in line with prices (CPI), set by an HM Treasury order.

•Normal Pension Age is linked to your State Pension Age.

•You track and manage it on the member site at mypension.com/moj, administered by XPS for the Ministry of Justice.

Why the tax treatment is different:

•JPS 2022 is tax-unregistered, so the Annual Allowance and the Lifetime Allowance do not apply to your main judicial pension, and member contributions get no tax relief.

•This design deliberately returned judges to their pre-2015 position, when the earlier judicial pension sat outside the standard pension-tax regime.

•The Lord Chancellor is the Scheme Manager.

Source: https://www.mypension.com/moj/

The McCloud remedy for the judiciary (2015 to 2022)

Judges brought the original McCloud litigation, and the remedy now gives the judiciary a choice for the 2015 to 2022 period.

What it means for you:

•A retrospective options exercise, which began in October 2023, lets you choose the applicable legacy scheme—JPA 1981, JUPRA or FPJPS—or JPS 2015 benefits for the remedy period.

•The choice is made for that specific window, so it is worth understanding both figures before you decide.

•The exercise is run through the member site at mypension.com/moj.

Keep your records, and check the position when your remedy information arrives.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-the-public-service-pension-remedy-affects-your-pension

Where the Annual Allowance can still arise

The main judicial scheme is tax-unregistered, so the Annual Allowance is not the everyday concern it is in most public-sector schemes. There is one exception that matters.

Why the remedy years are different:

•Service treated as JPS 2015 service for 2015 to 2022 is in a tax-registered scheme; protected or legacy-elected service is not.

•That means an Annual Allowance position can still arise for registered JPS 2015 years, and the options exercise can change it.

•Because your main JPS 2022 pension is outside the Annual Allowance, the picture for the remedy years is easy to overlook.

This is why we focus a judicial check on the remedy period rather than on your current accrual.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-the-public-service-pension-remedy-affects-your-pension

When advice fees can be reimbursed

The judicial remedy reimburses one specific type of advice, with other losses considered separately.

What you can claim:

•Up to £500 plus VAT for advice on moving between the tax-unregistered and tax-registered schemes.

•No accountancy allowance, and advice on making the choice itself is not covered.

•Other losses are considered case by case.

Source: https://www.mypension.com/moj/

How the judicial scheme differs

The judicial scheme works differently on tax

The current Judicial Pension Scheme (from 2022) is tax-unregistered, so the standard Annual Allowance does not apply to your main judicial pension. The issue that does matter is the McCloud options exercise for 2015 to 2022: only service treated as JPS 2015 service was tax-registered.

Current scheme (JPS 2022): Tax-unregistered
Annual Allowance on main accrual: Does not apply
What we check for you: McCloud, 2015 to 2022

This makes the judiciary an exception among public-sector schemes. We focus your check on the remedy period, where an Annual Allowance position can still arise.

Related guides

These guides cover the questions that usually come up next. They are written with NHS examples, but the Annual Allowance and McCloud rules they explain apply right across the public sector.

McCloud Remedy

How the remedy period works and what your options exercise will show.

Annual Allowance

The £60,000 limit, the 16x valuation, and the taper explained.

Carry Forward

Use unused allowance from earlier years to reduce a charge.

Illustrative, and independent

The judicial scheme is a deliberate exception: its main pension is tax-unregistered, so the Annual Allowance does not apply to it. Your own position for the 2015 to 2022 remedy years depends on your service, income and scheme rules. This guide is educational and is not personal advice. Remedy is not affiliated with the Ministry of Justice, XPS, or HMRC.