We never ask a user for their sex or gender unless it is absolutely essential. If we do have to ask for it, we must tell them why we need the information.

The main case for asking for a user's gender is when we have to ask a member for their legally recognised gender. This is because it is a requirement from the government on any RTI (real time information) data that's submitted to do with PAYE. More information can be found here on the government website.

Where we must ask for the member's gender for this reason, we say:

"Select your legally recognised gender. HMRC uses this for tax services."

Or, if the information was already supplied by their employer:

"Your employer told us your legally recognised gender when you joined Smart Pension. HMRC uses this for tax services."

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