QROPS - UK Pension Transfers

Singapore has recently had its QROPS certificate removed by HMRC in the UK.


At the moment this has NO implication for Hong Kong QROPS however having heard from a friend who has spoken with HMRC their guidance is to not use Hong Kong QROPS at present as HMRC are looking into the viability of Hong Kong QROPS from a number of stand points.


If QROPS status is removed then the tax consequances can be drastic.


The advice is that Guernsey would appear to be the safest place to transfer your pension under QROPS at present.


But if in doubt leave your pensions in the UK.

Do you know for sure that the 3 Singapore plans that used to be quoted have lost their qualifying status? I know that they can ask to take their name off the HMRC list if they want, without losing status. Though I don't see why they'd want to if open to anyone rather than a closed group of employees. Also, do you know if HMRC made any retrospective tax changes (seems unlikely). If not, then anyone already in those plans should not see a drastic tax consequence unless the change caused the plans to wind up and force people to transfer within the 5 year window of leaving the UK. Might encourage a swift transfer to the HK plans whilst they still qualify. Otherwise, I'd have thought there were a number of alternatives besides Guernsey eg Jersey, IoM, Gib etc. Don't know if these territories all offer an easy transfer route. The main problem for me with Singapore was the high charges levied. The main problem for HMRC was probably the nudge, nuge, wink, wink marketing re 'you don't need to tell HMRC anything after 5 years'. I was rather hoping the market would develop and I'd transfer UK benefits as charges came down. I certainly still hope to avoid a lot of tax.

Sorry - should have done bit more investigation before I posted. I can see that Singapore got busted in May. Probably not helped by this April article in The Telegraph.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/22/cmabroad22.xml

Their are a number of reason why you should look at transferring your UK pension overseas. Either it is frozen and not working for you, subject to high tax anywhere up to 80% or can be lost and may not be passed onto your family if something happens to you.


The best guys to talk to are Alliance. They can give you a report on the value of your pension and an actuarial view on the effect of moving it. If you want to move it, they will sort that for you too - just need to give them you NI number


Check out: http://www.alliancegroup.com.hk/savings-investments-plans.php

Has anyone done a QROP transfer themselves? I looked at the list of HMRC approved QROP programs in Hong Kong, and they don't seem to be the usual suspects. If anyone has gone through this before, would love to hear about your experience.