Mitzyboy

Hah ... no ... he said the same as you

CapnBilly

Sorry, I misunderstood your post

cmw6372

Agree this is crucial, I am checking the details and will come back on this as soon as possible.

You are right Mitzyboy, there is a lot of confusion and plenty of conflicting "opinions" on what should be reported and what not. Information seems to be changing regularly. A lot of it is the "interpretation" of the exact wording and I have seen Lawyers, Tax Avisers and Accountants interpreting things slightly differently.

Clarification is definitely required and it needs to be definitive.

Thanks for pointing this out CapnBilly !

cmw6372

Ok so a quick update..... firstly we recommend that you seek professional tax advice before reporting, at least then you will have someone to go back to if there are problems. We have been advised that Pensions do not need to be reported if they are not in draw down. There is nothing in writing to confirm this point though so probably still more confusion.

cmw6372

CapnBilly, i have updated my page accordingly. There still seems confusion regarding 3 or 5 assets classes but to be safe I am going to go with 3. That way everything will be reported that exceeds the 50k limit per asset class. And not broken down further to be under the limit and then find it is incorrect. When (if ?) we get confirmed news (in writing) i will update the post.

CapnBilly

Chris, have you received any advice on defined benefits pensions ( company final salary schemes). The advice from Blevins is that it doesn't need declaring, and I know a law firm that advises the same, but I have also seen conflicting advice.

CapnBilly

Thanks. I do think it is very poor that people who want to comply with the law, are left to worry, because its so unclear.

Just a small point, the rate for conversion is at the 31st December, so it might be helpful to put that. I'm using the ECB ( as I normally do) which is 1.2253. As its gone down by over 5 % since then, people may just use today's rate to work out if they need to do anything.

Fred James

Annuity valuations seem to be a problem. UK companies, when asked for a current asset value on an existing annuity, are stating that an annuity, once bought, cannot be exchanged for cash so the asset value is zero.

If that is the case they would not need to be reported as an asset but clearly this is at odds with the requirements as annuities are specifically mentioned as an asset that has to be reported

Mitzyboy

Something that was bought up on another forum, and I'm not sure if it was covered here (aint got the time to trawl back), but it seems the value of your property in the UK is the acquisition value, not the current value! If that is true, then you could own a house in the Uk for 40 years and have paid, say, £40k for it ... when it is now worth £200K So under these rules you wouldnt have to declare it

cmw6372

More confusion........ If the asset value of the annuity is Zero then It doesnt need reporting, might be worth getting a documentbfrom the annuity provider confirming the zero value as well though.

No specific advice on final salary pensions, are you taking that now or is it "frozen" ? If you are taking it find out if it has a value that is attributed to you (a lump sum amount) , you may find that the value is actually in the company name as it is their "pension fund" and you are just the beneficiary of a monthly withdrawal ? Worth checking.........

Mitzyboy

Afaik The robbing barstewards that operate the annuity own it, because if I take it tomorrow and die in a week, then all my heirs get is a much smaller guaranteed value, and they keep the rest. What a wonderful insurance company stealth theft of the money I saved all my life, and these are the people we are supposed to trust!

cmw6372

Annuities aren't the best option !

snikpoh

... but isn't that one of the benefits of QROPS or QRUPS or however it's spelled these days?

Mitzyboy

I know, but who can you believe

Well if I hear anything more about CRAPS I'm going to go and sit in a dark room and talk to myself.

Although I appreciate that some people say they are wonderful and that there are approved schemes, I also understand that HMRC are investigating it

jackytoo

Absolutely agree. The charges are high too..and in some your fund is not secure!