pmak

I am close to retirement age and I am a British expat living in Canada, I wonder if I can receive the UK state pension as I contributed into NHI over 10 years while living in UK. Also, can I receive the UK state pension as well as the Canada CPP and OAS?

bats

Yes you can. If you go online to GovUk you can check how much pension you are due etc. You'll need your NI number.
Also Service Canada for CPP and OAS.

pmak

Thank you for the reply. Do I pay tax on the Canada state pension in UK? Do I pay tax on the UK state pension in Canada? Will the UK state pension taxable in Canada? I know that the Canada pension is taxable as income in Canada. How does it work? I confuse.

glendem4

You pay tax in the country of residency, That means you will be taxed in Canada on your worldwide income which includes 🇬🇧 state pension. You need to inform HMRC you need to be zero rated for tax purposes, otherwise you will be double taxed and require to reclaim the tax paid in the 🇬🇧

Twitcher1958

Have you investigated whether it’s worth your making additional NI contributions before you retire? If you’re eligible, it’s about £160pa and you can usually contribute about 6 years worth. Relatively low outlay for a good return.

Pulaski

I hear that for some reason, possibly tied to rejigging of the pension arthmetic a few years ago, around 2016 IIRC, it may be possible to contribute as many as 14-16 years of voluntary contributions in arrears, back to 2006. If you can add 15 years of contributions it would add 15/35ths of a weekly pension to what you receive, so almost half the value of a full pension.

Twitcher1958

I did see a similar comment recently - know not where but there were thought to be certain conditions. Well worth checking out though.

christmasoompa

It's age related - https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-nationa...ions/deadlines

OP, I agree with the above, making voluntary contributions is an excellent investment if you can.

bats

I only pay tax in Canada. I filled out a form that Canada tax people signed to confirm that i am a tax resident of Canada and then i forwarded that to the HMRC. Ill see if I can find the link

Found it https://assets.publishing.service.go.../Canada-DT.pdf

btar

Did HMRC reply and if so, did they agree that you will no longer be taxed in the UK?

bats

oh yes. I filled out the form, sent it to Canadian tax office and they signed the relevant section. I then sent the form back to HMRC. There was a reply and I don't pay any taxes there on state pension nor NHS pension. I just report it all here.

Twitcher1958

They did in our case. Once CRA stamp that form, and you send it to HMRC, they accept that you will declare in Canada and pay taxes here. We did it 10 years ago - it takes a few weeks but worked smoothly.

btar

Thanks for the quick reply - also the point about UK Gov pensions being declared and taxed in Canada too as I have seen posts that state a UK Gov pension will be taxed in the UK.

bats

Well it would be if you hadn't done the necessary paperwork.

btar

Point taken and these posts are helping me onto the right track which is more than I can say from (written) appeals and paperwork sent to HMRC. I sent my latest letter to them in early February, I'm still waiting for a reply. Does anyone know a polite way of expediting responses?