Retail Mediation Activities Return (RMAR) help text
Reporting period calculator – fees data to report in Section J (Data required for calculation of fees)
1. Firms must report tariff data for fees and levies in Section J once a year.
2. This information is required so that we can calculate the fees payable by the firm in respect of the FSA, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
3. Please see below for your deadline to complete Section J. If you do not need to complete this section of the return for a specific period, please leave the cells blank. You must, however, press 'validate' so the return can be submitted.
4. Details of existing fees rules and guidance are in the Fees Manual (FEES)
- Chapter 4 - FSA fees
- Chapter 5 - FOS levies
- Chapter 6 - FSCS levies
Section J help texts are subject to change during the year due to our consultations on our fees rules.
So before completing Section J, you should also refer to latest publications on fees. These will explain any proposed changes to the tariff data you must report, and the expected date when any changes will be implemented.
For further information on fees and levies, please visit our fees web pages.
General information for reporting fee tariff data in Section J
5. All amounts must be stated in pounds sterling and in units of £1. For example, a figure of five thousand pounds must be entered as '5000'.
6. For FSA fees, there is a minimum fee in each fee-block whether or not your firm conducts any business relevant to that fee-block.
When must Section J be completed?
7. Table 2 below shows when a firm must report, for fees and levies purposes, fee tariff data from its insurance mediation activity, mortgage mediation activity and/or retail investment activity for the financial year.
8. We have introduced a new reporting schedule to simplify Section J reporting. All firms reporting fees data on the RMAR will now do so in their year-end return. Firms with an annual reporting date (ARD) between 1 February and 31 August (inclusive) no longer need to complete Section J in their half-year-end return; instead they must complete Section J in their year-end return. So all firms submit fees data on their year-end return.
9. To have the complete set of fees data for 2008/09 invoicing, we need to delay the schedule change for firms with 1 July – 31 August ARD until 1 March 2008 (so we can capture those firms' 2008/09 invoicing data on their half-year-end return due in early 2008).
10. In Table 2, read across from the firm’s accounting reference date (ARD) to find out the applicable reporting periods when Section J must be completed.
11. You should be aware of two timeframes – the:
- date when Section J is due to be completed with tariff data; and
- the 12-month period for which you must report tariff data.
Annual income: although your RMAR reporting period is six-monthly or shorter, the data you report in Section J should cover the 12 months ending on your latest ARD.
Example: A firm's ARD is 31 December; the firm must complete Section J for the year ending 31 December 2007 in the RMAR it completes for the period 1 July 2007 to 31 December 2007. We must receive the data by mid-February 2008. We will use this data to calculate the firm's fees & levies for 2008/09 invoices.
Please see CP07/17 (paragraphs 4.36 – 4.48) for further details.
Number of relevant approved persons: the data required is the total number of approved persons conducting relevant business as at 31 December.
What data should be reported in Section J?
12. In the applicable reporting period, the rules require that you must provide tariff data in Section J for the following fees and levies:
- Mortgage mediation (Annual Income) – FSA data only.
- Non-investment insurance mediation (Annual Income) – FSA data only.
- Investment mediation (Number of approved persons) – FOS data only.
We already have tariff data for all other fees and levies.
13. NB For mortgage mediation and non-investment insurance mediation activities, we will base your FOS and FSCS levies on the data you report for FSA fees, unless you choose to report tailored income figures for FOS and FSCS levies. It may benefit you to report tailored income if there is a material difference between your total annual income and the income you earn from business done only with customers eligible to use the FOS and/or FSCS. For further information on reporting tailored income, see fees for mortgage and general insurance business on our fees web pages.
How should Section J tariff data be calculated?
14. The definitions of tariff data vary according to the activities the firm is undertaking. The following table summarises the tariff data to be reported, and where this is defined in the FSA Handbook. This will help firms calculate the figure(s) to insert in relevant boxes in Section J. To get an indication of your likely fees and levies, you may wish to use the ‘online fee calculator’, available on our fees web pages .
Table 1: Summary of data needed to be reported in Section J of the Retail Mediation Activities Return
FSA |
FOS |
FSCS |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Annual income This is the data needed for fees in the A.18 fee-block (home finance providers, advisers and arrangers). The FSA Handbook rules on tariff data for this fee are in FEES Chapter 4 Annex 1R Part 2. Further guidance on how to calculate this data is in A.18 tariff data. |
Annual income This is the data needed for the levy in FOS industry block 16. The FSA Handbook rules on tariff data for this levy are in FEES Chapter 5 Annex 1R Part 2. You do not need to complete this field unless you wish to report tailored annual income. The FOS tailored income form will help you calculate the tailored income figure to insert in this field. |
Annual income This is the data needed for the levy in FSCS contribution group SE02. The FSA Handbook rules on tariff data for this levy are in FEES Chapter 6 (see FEES 6.5.10R). You do not need to complete this field unless you wish to report tailored annual income. The FSCS tailored income form will help you calculate the tailored income figure to insert in this field. |
Non-investment insurance mediation |
Annual income This is the data needed for fees in the A.19 fee-block (general insurance mediation). The FSA Handbook rules on tariff data for this fee are in FEES Chapter 4 Annex 1R Part 2. Further guidance on how to calculate this data is in A.19 tariff data. |
Annual income This is the data needed for the levy in FOS industry block 17. The FSA Handbook rules on tariff data for this levy are in FEES Chapter 5 Annex 1R Part 2 and FEES Chapter 4 Annex 1R Part 2 . You do not need to complete this field unless you wish to report tailored annual income. The FOS tailored income form will help you calculate the tailored income figure to insert in this field. |
Annual income This is the data needed for the levy in FSCS contribution group SB02. The FSA Handbook rules on tariff data for this levy are in FEES Chapter 6 (see FEES 6.5.11R). You do not need to complete this field unless you wish to report tailored annual income. The FSCS tailored income form will help you calculate the tailored income figure to insert in this field. |
| Investment mediation | Number of approved persons This is the data needed for fees in the A.12 and A.13 fee-blocks (advisory arrangers, dealers and brokers holding/not holding client money). We base these fees on numbers of approved persons on the FSA Register as at 31 December. You do not need to report this data to us. |
Number of relevant approved persons This is the data needed for the levy in FOS industry blocks 8 and 9. The data required is the total number of approved persons conducting relevant business as at 31 December. The FSA Handbook rules on tariff data for this levy are in FEES Chapter 5 Annex 1R Part 2 and FEES Chapter 4 Annex 1R Part 2. Further guidance on how to calculate this data is in industry block 8 tariff data and industry block 9 tariff data. |
Number of approved persons This is the data needed for fees in the SC02 and/or SD02 contribution groups (advisory arrangers, dealers and brokers holding/not holding client money). We base these fees on numbers of approved persons on the FSA Register as at 31 December. You do not need to report this data to us. |
Table 2: Reporting schedule for Section J (data required for calculation of fees) on the Retail Mediation Activities Return
| ARD | Return in which Section J must be completed
(old schedule) |
Return in which Section J must be completed (new schedule) |
Section J data should cover the 12 months ending
(no change) |
Implementation date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 January | 1/8/07 to 31/1/08 | 1/8/07 to 31/1/08 | 31/1/08 | No change |
| 1 February | 2/2/08 to 1/8/08 | 2/8/07 to 1/2/08 | 1/2/08 | 1 January 2008 |
| 28 February | 1/3/08 to 31/8/08 | 1/9/07 to 28/2/08 | 28/2/08 | |
| 31 March | 1/4/08 to 30/9/08 | 1/10/07 to 31/3/08 | 31/3/08 | |
| 30 April | 1/5/08 to 31/10/08 | 1/11/07 to 30/4/08 | 30/4/08 | |
| 31 May | 1/6/08 to 31/11/08 | 1/12/07 to 31/5/08 | 31/5/08 | |
| 1 June | 2/6/08 to 1/12/08 | 2/12/07 to 1/6/08 | 1/6/08 | |
| 30 June | 1/7/08 to 31/12/08 | 1/1/08 to 30/6/08 | 30/6/08 | |
| 1 July | 2/7/08 to 1/1/09 | 2/1/08 to 1/7/08 | 1/7/08 | 1 March 2008 |
| 31 July | 1/8/08 to 31/1/09 | 1/2/08 to 31/7/08 | 31/7/08 | |
| 31 August | 1/9/08 to 28/2/09 | 1/3/08 to 31/8/08 | 31/8/08 | |
| 30 September | 1/4/08 to 30/9/08 | 1/4/08 to 30/9/08 | 30/9/08 | No change |
| 31 October | 1/5/08 to 31/10/08 | 1/5/08 to 31/10/08 | 31/10/08 | |
| 30 November | 1/6/08 to 30/11/08 | 1/6/08 to 30/11/08 | 30/11/08 | |
| 31 December | 1/7/08 to 31/12/08 | 1/7/08 to 31/12/08 | 31/12/08 |
Notes
If your firm’s ARD is not a month end, you can still use the table to work out your reporting period. For example, if the ARD is 6 June, you can use the dates for ARD 31 May and add on six days, i.e. 7/12/08– 6/6/08, Section J data should cover the 12 months ending 6/6/08.