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pensions
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:01am
has anyone changed from a uk pension to a spanish one and how easy was it
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 11:44am
Legendary helpful member
Hi Martyn,
I looked at doing this, prompted by this article from The Local in June 2018:
Should Brits in Europe move their UK pensions to an EU-based QROPS?
With Brexit deadlines looming, many British pensioners are worried about their futures. One option available to British pension holders is to transfer their pension to a Qualified Recognized Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS).
According to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) web page, there are 149 QROPS in the EU as of June 1st, 2018. More than half are in Ireland or Malta. While many of the QROPS in Ireland are occupational schemes, most of the QROPS in Malta are private schemes.
British pension holders who have either a defined benefit pension or a defined contribution pension are eligible to transfer their pension to an EU-based QROPS.
Transferring to a QROPS could give the client more flexibility on income and potentially reduce taxation.
“When you move your pension to a QROPS it is no longer taxed at source in the UK,” Simon Byrne, Europe Area Manager with Belgravia Wealth Management, told The Local.
Depending on where you move your pension to, this could have huge benefits. Austria and Sweden for example do not have inheritance tax whereas UK pensions are normally reduced to 50 per cent or are taxed up to 45 per cent when the client dies.
With a QROPS, the client’s spouse and/or other beneficiary(/ies) receive the full 100 per cent payout after the client dies.
Moving a pension to a QROPS protects clients from further changes in UK taxation, argues Byrne. In 2017, the UK government introduced a 25 per cent tax on transfers of pensions outside of the EEA. "We feel this may be a pre-cursor tax to Brexit as they cannot tax EEA pension transfers at the moment but who knows in the future?" says Byrne.
Byrne adds there are several other benefits to transferring to QROPS: flexibility on the amount of income, choice of currency and control over currency conversion during the lifetime of the pension.
“Malta seems to be the most popular destination because of tax advantages,” added Byrne.
Potential new taxes on UK pension transfers could affect the benefits of future transfers to QROPS, Byrne says. “Pensions are a very easy target and the cost of Brexit will have to be funded somehow,” he told The Local.
Germany has 11 QROPS and many EU countries have HMRC-recognised pension schemes too. However France, Spain and Italy do not have any. British citizens living in those three countries can still transfer their QROPS to Malta, however.
“You can have a pension based in Malta but live anywhere in the EU,” says Byrne. “Now would be the perfect time for anyone who has a UK pension to review their personal circumstances.”Also, QROPS isn't the only option for transferring your pension from the UK to the EU, and this link explains the others:
Friends of mine had SIPPS in the UK and were disappointed, when they moved to Spain, to discover how heavily taxed they are here, because they are viewed as investments, rather than pensions.
When I asked my independent financial advisor about moving my pensions, he said, "There are charges. In my experience it’s a good excuse for an IFA to charge high fees", but of course, everyone's circumstances are different and I'd suggest you also need to speak to your IFA to ensure the advice is up to date and assess whether any of the options are likely to be advantageous for your own specific circumstances.
Kind regards,
Kim
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2020 4:55pm
Kimmy11 wrote on Thu Sep 24, 2020 11:44am:
Hi Martyn,
I looked at doing this, prompted by this article from The Local in June 2018:
Read more...
Should Brits in Europe move their UK pensions to an EU-based QROPS?
With Brexit deadlines looming, many British pensioners are worried about their futures. One option available to British pension holders is to transfer their pension to a Qualified Recognized Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS).
According to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) web page, there are 149 QROPS in the EU as of June 1st, 2018. More than half are in Ireland or Malta. While many of the QROPS in Ireland are occupational schemes, most of the QROPS in Malta are private schemes.
British pension holders who have either a defined benefit pension or a defined contribution pension are eligible to transfer their pension to an EU-based QROPS.
Transferring to a QROPS could give the client more flexibility on income and potentially reduce taxation.
“When you move your pension to a QROPS it is no longer taxed at source in the UK,” Simon Byrne, Europe Area Manager with Belgravia Wealth Management, told The Local.
Depending on where you move your pension to, this could have huge benefits. Austria and Sweden for example do not have inheritance tax whereas UK pensions are normally reduced to 50 per cent or are taxed up to 45 per cent when the client dies.
With a QROPS, the client’s spouse and/or other beneficiary(/ies) receive the full 100 per cent payout after the client dies.
Moving a pension to a QROPS protects clients from further changes in UK taxation, argues Byrne. In 2017, the UK government introduced a 25 per cent tax on transfers of pensions outside of the EEA. "We feel this may be a pre-cursor tax to Brexit as they cannot tax EEA pension transfers at the moment but who knows in the future?" says Byrne.
Byrne adds there are several other benefits to transferring to QROPS: flexibility on the amount of income, choice of currency and control over currency conversion during the lifetime of the pension.
“Malta seems to be the most popular destination because of tax advantages,” added Byrne.
Potential new taxes on UK pension transfers could affect the benefits of future transfers to QROPS, Byrne says. “Pensions are a very easy target and the cost of Brexit will have to be funded somehow,” he told The Local.
Germany has 11 QROPS and many EU countries have HMRC-recognised pension schemes too. However France, Spain and Italy do not have any. British citizens living in those three countries can still transfer their QROPS to Malta, however.
“You can have a pension based in Malta but live anywhere in the EU,” says Byrne. “Now would be the perfect time for anyone who has a UK pension to review their personal circumstances.”Also, QROPS isn't the only option for transferring your pension from the UK to the EU, and this link explains the others:
Friends of mine had SIPPS in the UK and were disappointed, when they moved to Spain, to discover how heavily taxed they are here, because they are viewed as investments, rather than pensions.
When I asked my independent financial advisor about moving my pensions, he said, "There are charges. In my experience it’s a good excuse for an IFA to charge high fees", but of course, everyone's circumstances are different and I'd suggest you also need to speak to your IFA to ensure the advice is up to date and assess whether any of the options are likely to be advantageous for your own specific circumstances.
Kind regards,
Kim
thanks a lot very useful
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