mjwalker007

In a situation like this you believe the HMRC.....they are the institution that Introduced QROPS and make the rules. Ultimately they are the ones who could levy any penalties,if the rules are not followed.

The person you are dealing with in regards to transferring your UK pension to Canada should be aware of QROPS rules and should make you aware of them before any transfer takes place.

chumley

can anyone advise please

which provincial regs apply to my pension transfered from the UK?

is it my province of residence?

is it the province where my advisor is registered and works?

is it the province where the investment company have their head office?

cannot get a straight answer on this as normally it would be the province where the pesnion was earned regardless of the province of residence but what if the pesnion was earned outside canada and you use an advisor or investment company outside of your province of residence???

many
thanks for any pointers

Piff Poff

Oooh! Bit worried now We stupidly went with IG. I have withdrawn a small amount but I transferred two different things, one locked in and one not. We late last year cut our losses with IG and have transferred out. OH is about to complain on a different matter with them as they have mishandled his account - something we didn't realise until we met with someone that knew what they were talking about. Oh well, I'll get a letter or I won't.

airbornesapper

Some pointers: If you have a complaint with an investment or banking company...these links should help:

http://www.obsi.ca/UI/Resources/UsefulWebsites.aspx

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nssc/investor/investored.htm

I will include the NB one as the page on what do do complaint wise is a little better than the NS one;

http://www.nbsc-cvmnb.ca/nbsc/conten...=1028&pid=1021

As you will see, you start trying to resolve you issue (in writing) with the company (use the provincial head office of the company you deal with)...get no joy take it from there as recommended in the links.

I had been with XX company for years, and once I became more knowledgeable decided to move away, started that about 6 years ago moved 3/4 of our portfolio......accepted the costs involved, but one aspect was handled very badly.....went through the hoops took on XX and won.

I still have a fair bit with XX....and will look to move that over to the new mob when I have the time....the remainder was left with XX because the DSC fee's (on transfer) were too steep to suck up....relatively new purchases at the time.

Some companies have exorbitant management fees and my education on all this started a few years too late. But once I was aware, I did my best to structure things in our interest, and not those of any investment type group...certainly there is about 15 years of time I would like back and to do over.

For those of you with some time on your hands, and want to do a night course on Financial planning, the foundation (1 of 7 or so) for the Certified Financial Planner is excellent. I completed it 10 years ago, the instructor offered that by just doing the one course you would know more about financial planning than 99% of the population......anyway, it's worthwhile IMHO.

Good luck....
PS....I don't bother buying mutual funds any more, and wish I never had. I stopped buying two years ago even with my new mob......like to see it in the bank these days...and don't care that rates are so low at this time....not boffered....

chumley

plus uk law changes april 2012 reporting period now extended form 5 to 10 years out of uk

mjwalker007

Yes, the proposed change ( still in consultation until January 31st 2012 ) is that the reporting requirement will no longer be 5 years from the date you became non-resident...............but 10 years from the date of the actual transfer. As mentioned the new QROPS rules will be in place for any new transfer made after 5th April 2012

chumley

and existing not just new !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

chumley

The changes apply to existing QROPS/members from the 6th April, 2012, as well as to new QROPS/members after that date.
The new reporting requirements for the QROPS provider are:
to report any payments made within 10 years of the transfer;
the reporting clock stops ticking 10 years after the transfer occurs, as opposed to 5 years after the member became UK non-resident;
the 10-year reporting obligation applies regardless of whether the member is resident or non-resident and;
the reporting covers all benefit payments, not just the first benefit payment;

chumley

can anyone clarify is it just reporting to change and not the uk tax obligation after the existing test period of 5 tax years? dont think the tax has changed in the new regs but not impossible that this is also on the cards

Ben W Bell

I did my transfer with Investor's Group. However I knew anyway as I'd looked into the definition of a QROPS in the first place that you can't take out of it when you transfer it without incurring a penalty. Did all the people here who are complaining take money out of their pension when they transferred it? Why did you ever think that was something that was allowed anyway?

All mine is still locked up, and I never withdrew anything. Why would I anyway as it's my pension funds, not my money now fund. If it was in the UK I wouldn't have been able to touch it.

So yes, letter from IG talking about the 5 year reporting period, but no action and everything is fine as long as the date I left the UK was the same as that on the letter.

Almost Canadian

I suspect they did. IIRC some of them bragged about their ability to do so on this site, despite the experts on this site telling them otherwise. Still, I am sure it must someone else's fault.

Tangram

Quite.