Hello all

This is my first post and I believe it is GOOD NEWS for any who have a private pension and are at present using drawdown and have not yet converted to an annuity.

----------------------------PENSION INFO ---------------------------------
I have recently received information on QROPS.

This is a new scheme the government have brought out (rather quietly) to allow people who have lived outside the UK for 5 years or more to have access to their private pensions.

(not the state pension)

If you have DRAWDOWN INCOME - and not yet converted into an annuity you qualify.

You may apply to have all your private pension transferred out of the UK and you can then have it immediately in cash, either invest it or spend it.
(With no tax on the pension.)

The Government will send you ALL the forms and it is quite daunting.
( I wonder why)

However I have found a company who takes all the hassle out of doing this.

(They charge a fee- No one works for nothing do they.)

In my case I have a further 9 months to go before I qualify and then I can have the cash.

This is a real first. I can only think this will not remain open for long. A pity for those in the UK as they need 5 years outside.

Again I wondered WHY?

I wonder also.... who will benefit in the government circles?

Other info:
From 5th April 2006 any transfer of UK benefits to an overseas scheme are only permitted if the transfer is going to a scheme that has been registered with HM Revenue & Customs, in the UK.

Transfer to NON QROPS will result in a 40% to 55% tax charge on the transfer from your UK fund.

In addition to registration the scheme needs to meet specific reporting requirements for a period of 5 years after the date of the last transfer from the UK.

www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionschemes/qrops.pdf

QROPS


Malc

mtismee@gmail.com

Hi Malc,

Welcome to the forum.

There are quite a few approved schemes for people who want to transfer their pensions to Australia, and if you do it within 6 months of moving out here then the Australian government do not tax it. We have just been through this process.

If you use a self managed fund in Australia then you can do far more with your pension than you can in the UK without having the pension as cash. Self managed funds do incur charges so you need to ensure that whatever you do with your pension you are earning enough to cover those charges.

Obviously I'm not a financial advisor and people should take financial advice on their pensions transfer since situations are different.

Regards,
Karen

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Money-Magnets: The Blog - How to get your money to work for YOU

Thanks for the info.
I live in Spain and the pension release will be beneficial to say the least as the cash is yours.

The annuity when taken stays lodged in the UK and is taxable as I understand it.

So QROPS -Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes - is a bounus for the likes of me who still have a drawdown and not yet converted to an annuity.

As for Australia are you saying the QORPS is transferable to OZ? As I understand it we have to be out of the country 5 years before we can transfer - and then only to a qualifying country who the UK govt give the OK .. Spain being one of those.

A fee for someone doing all the paperwork has to be taken into account and also a minimum of £75.000 needs to be in the fund

Like you I am not an expert but have read realms of info and cannot see any disadvantage...after all it is my money and why should I pay TAX if there is an alternative :-))
malc

Hi Malc,

I know that there are QORPS schemes in Australia since we had to have one to transfer our private & NHS pensions to Australia (the few pages of the pdf document are full of them ). They introduced the QORPS scheme just as we were thinking about transferring the pensions and had to wait until some pensions in Australia belonged to the scheme. However we were doing it within 6 months to avoid further taxation. I'm not sure if this means that people in Australia who have been here 5 years will be able to get their money in cash since I didn't know anything about that until you mentioned it....

Regards,
Karen

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Money-Magnets: The Blog - How to get your money to work for YOU

Good for you Karen.

As long as you are financially better of- that's what counts.

The website I included does give more information, alas it is a UK Gov't statement.
I know the private companies can take the load..but as I stated they need £$€ for the efforts of administration.

So when I do take my fund - I will no doubt pay for this expertise and time. That I accept as a part of the package.

The forms to DIY are available but my occupation was a a humble Industrial Screen printer. So the Lawyers once again appear on the horizon.

But hey! The TAXMAN COMETH...but does not TAKETH AWAY.Nice for a change
Malc the optomist

We got a company to transfer the pensions for us since we wanted financial advice on our situation anyway with assets in the UK and in Oz. Yes we had to pay for that and for the transfer as well but it saved us the stress and hassle of doing it so I don't mind (too much ).

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Money-Magnets: The Blog - How to get your money to work for YOU

Am I wrong in thinking that if you take it in Spain it will be treated as income and taxed by the Spanish government as (a) income or (b) wealth tax?

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For photos of European Cities visit my homepage

A good question!
This man will answer that,

(Deleted - sorry no ads on the forums)

Stephen has been most helpful in a very large way.

Drop him a line and then please post the answer as I am not a financial expert and cannot give a definitive answer. Or preferably - send me an email to. mtismee@gmail.com

I elected to pay my taxes in Spain as this is now my main residence.

My thoughts are that it is tax free from the UK.

But will Spain see it as an income - or - As capital released? Which has all ready been taxed?

A can of worms perhaps, but a good question worth an answer
.
Thanks for that. malc

A civil service pension is taxable in the UK.
A private pension or state pension is taxable in your country of residence, and that would include any tax free sums that might have been tax free in the UK but aren't in Spain.

So if you manage to get release of a UK pension tax free in the UK, I strongly suspect that the Spanish authorities will see that as income and tax accordingly.

There's nothing as certain as death and taxes

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For photos of European Cities visit my homepage

CORRECT ON THE ASSUMPTION ;-)

It appears that if you take it while a resident in the UK, it is not taxed.

Perhaps the MP's have plans for their retirements?

Anyway if it is taxed in Spain- so be it.

I would rather it go to where I reside - as I own GB nothing in sentiment taxifically speaking. (no such word I know- but it sounds PURFRRRRFECT)