Are you eligible for a QROPS transfer if you live or plan to move to Australia? The answer is yes if you have a UK pension and have currently been non-resident of the UK for 5 or more years and living in Australia, or, are going to be overseas for 5 or more years and considering moving to Australia.
If you live in Australia or consider living in Australia for more than 5 years, you can transfer your UK Pension into an HMRC approved scheme in an offshore, tax friendly jurisdiction, such as the Isle of Man and Guernsey. Some of the benefits of transferring your UK pension into a QROPS are:
With QROPS you are not obliged to purchase an annuity which gives you the freedom to invest money into assets which may yield a much higher return.
With inheritance tax set at zero on a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme, compared with as much as 82 percent in the UK, there are substantially more residual funds and it is much simpler to pass these onto the beneficiaries of your choice.
Depending on how you take your money out, QROPS offers much lower ways to take draw benefits lso offer lower tax rates than the UK.
At the moment British citizens can take a lump sum of 25 percent from their scheme in the UK. Under QROPS this is set higher at 30 percent.
By passing over your pension into a QROPS means that you can receive your pension benefit payments in your local currency and therefore eliminate any exchange rate risk and currency conversion charges.
Set up and running costs are generally significantly lower than in the UK and the fee structure is transparent.
There is a much wider choice of investment options under QROPS, you may select from a comprehensive range of flexible plans across a wide range of funds which will help to structure your fund for your circumstances.
Under certain QROPS, members can gain greater protection from creditors and claimants than is usually available in the UK.
Defined benefit schemes in the UK form part of the balance sheet of the company, this is a huge risk to your pension fund.
For further information on offshore QROPS transfers while you are in Australia and to be introduced to an accredited QROPS adviser in Australia, simply use the contact form to the right and we will introduce you to a QROPS advisor in Australia, all with the strictest confidence and without any obligation or cost to you.
