462

Hello All


First posting here. We have been granted Residency Approval in Principle and now all that remains is to have the visa additions in our passports. We are thinking of moving in May 2015 and are both aged 70.


Quite a few queries are now becoming apparent and the help of those of you experienced in the items would be appreciated.


I have read that there is no NZ tax liability (other than GST) for four years – is this still current and likely to remain?


What is the best method of having UK state and also UK private pensions paid in NZ? (I have read somewhere that you can have the UK pension paid into a NZ state account which saves on exchange rates?) We realise that our state pensions are frozen once we leave the UK so that year on year we will get a bit poorer!


What is the best method of transferring UK financial assets to NZ? – although we will keep our UK home for rental income for a period.


We have '.co.uk' email addresses – will those be OK in NZ if the provider allows?

BEVS

Hi there and welcome to this cosy NZ forum.

Just to let you know that I have moved your freight query into a thread of it's own. HERE It was looking a bit lost in the relocation listy thread.

Stormer999

I have my state and private pension put into a Lloyds Offshore account and a regular transfer by Moneycorp into a BNZ account. I could not transfer my private pension as the assets were misappropriated by an asset stripping company during Maggies reign and I now receive a proportion from PPF. My state pension remains in the UK frozen until the UK Government play ball. NZ tax man leaves me alone for 48 months....nice man...
We sold our home before the 48 month period was up.
I kept my .co.uk email address for a couple of years but eventually changed to gmail.com to stop all of the UK spam mail.

Polly 3

Hello and welcome, I hope you will be very happy in New Zealand. I can't help you re your pension questions, however, we buy and sell homes and move internationally a fair bit and therefore move money around.
I think the best advice in moving money is to shop around, also, most banks, exchanges, will let you lock in an exchange rate ahead of time.We have done this twice, when we were selling homes and buying in another country, we didn't want to be at the mercy of the rate dropping significantly. We also have "talked up" the exchange rate by approaching the bank and have always got a much better rate than the daily blackboard rate. You will find there are two exchange rates, the retail (which most of us get when traveling) and the commercial rate, which is given to business and thats what you want to get. We are paid in NZ dollars and live in Australia, our bank gives us the commercial rate and waved the exchange fees in return for our custom, it pays to shop around and ask! Enjoy the adventure ahead, its sounds very exciting!

462

Thanks you Bevs for giving us our own thread re: shipping or air freighting!!

462

Thanks for the replies!

Stormer999 - Sorry to read about your private pension issue. A friend of mine worked for a company called Cablevision. They were taken over by Robert Maxwell (real name Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch) who owned the Mirror group. My friend also lost his pension by misappropriation by that gentleman who finally, it is said, fell off the back of his yacht.

I looked at the Lloyds Offshore account - but it appears to only deal in sterling, GBP, USD and Euro's. How do you get that into NZD?

Regarding the proceeds of the sale of one's sole property, I read that does not attract tax in NZ as it is not classed as income. The rental monies would be, as is the pension income.

I think that I am correct in that, but please let me know if I am wrong.

Polly3 - so it's down to some financial wheeling and dealing then?

462

In my initial posting I mentioned that it's possible to have the UK state pension paid into a NZ state account, which apparently is more beneficial.

Has anybody had experience of this?

The following is from the webpage:

United Kingdom pensions paid in New Zealand - Work and Income

"What options are available for payment of my UK pension in New Zealand?

There are two payment methods for getting a State Pension paid into New Zealand - the direct payment method or the special banking option. To discuss the most suitable option for you, please contact our International Services team.

Under the direct payment method you can choose to have your State Pension paid directly into your own bank account. Your New Zealand Superannuation or Veteran’s Pension is reduced by the amount of your State Pension. The two pensions together add up to an amount that is similar to the full rate of New Zealand Superannuation or Veteran’s Pension.

Under the special banking option, you can choose to have your State Pension paid into a special bank account that only Work and Income and the bank can access. In return, you get the full amount of New Zealand Superannuation or Veteran’s Pension."

BEVS

Stormer is using a forex company to trade the money out of the Lloyds offshore into his NZ bank.There are several easy to use forex companies out there.
Yup
Yup.

With regard to investing life savings or monies from pension schemes brought over to NZ , it pays to be extremely vigilant about where such money is invested here in NZ. Just as with the UK , shonky practice happens.
We peg as low risk when it comes to managed funds . Those funds being the proceeds of our UK pension funds which we transferred here. Since then those funds have been frozen due to malpractice not once but twice !

Stormer999

Stormer is using a forex company to trade the money out of the Lloyds offshore into his NZ bank.There are several easy to use forex companies out there.

As Bevs says my pensions go into Lloyds Offshore sterling and I use Moneycorp to transfer into NZ$ on a regular basis into BNZ.
I was lucky enough to be able to open a Lloyds Sterling Premier Account that charged me not for transactions if I keep 2.5k sterling in there, they also give me and family free travel insurance. They no longer do that account.

If anyone knows where the UK pound sign is located on my NZ Netbook keyboard I would be extremely grateful...

BEVS

<snipped>

Actually I'm also interested in how you choose which method for your state pension as I will be entitled to one or the other having been here for over 10 years . I would need to choose an NZ super or the UK state.

462

Anyway - getting back to the original query () - I have now read many different official documents and from ir258 I again have come across methods of pension payments from outside NZ. There are two systems - the special banking option and the direct payment option.

What I am unclear about is if these only apply if you are also entitled to NZ Superannuation. I think the special banking is for people who do qualify and the latter is for others. Anybody able to clarify this point?

MrsFychan

I think you may be best talking to a financial advisor dealing in pension or international transfers to get the best advice on this.

Stormer999

Sorry 462 I seem to have hijacked your post somehow ans sod the pound sign I shall just use GBP instead.
As you are not settled in NZ yet then if I were you I would use the UK pension to offshore bank route initially and transfers into a NZ bank this would leave a simple exit solution if things do not work out and you decide to go back. Lloyds offshore will send regular transfers to your NZ bank if you do not fancy setting up a Forex transfer. I used Lloyds to BNZ and the exchange rate was quite good.

chc4me

The Special Banking Option is only available to those that qualify for NZ Super. It is effectively a 'swap' of your UK State Pension in exchange for a NZ State Pension (called NZ Superannuation).

To be entitled to NZ Superannuation, you must:
* be age 65 or over
* a NZ citizen OR Permanent resident
* normally live in NZ at time of application.

Note: for British expats, there is no requirement to have lived in NZ for a minimum number of years, this is due to a double social security agreement between NZ and the UK.

If you qualify and elect the 'special banking' option, then the amount that the UK Govt pay you will be paid to the NZ Govt instead. You will then receive the full NZ Superannuation amount which ranges between $268 p/w up to $366.94 p/w after tax. See this link for details.

You will need to work out which option is best for you, after taking tax into consideration etc. Based on current exchange rates, the NZ amount is mostly likely the higher amount putting you in a better financial position.

If you elect to retain the UK State Pension, then you can nominate a NZ bank account to receive payment. This website states you will be paid in local currency. Please check with your bank to confirm any charges that may be deducted.

Best wishes for the move.

chc4me

There is a four year tax free exemption on foreign income for new migrants, subject to qualification. This starts at the time of arrival and ends on the final day of the month 4 years later.

I highly recommend booking an hour with a suitable accountant when you arrive in NZ to confirm your tax obligations so that there are no surprises. For the cost of an hour of their time, it will avoid any costly mistakes in the future.

You might also like to consider the new Capital Gains tax in the UK for Non-UK residents holding property and how that may impact you should you decide to retain the house in the UK.