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UK Pensions Proposed Changes for April 2015

UK Pensions Proposed Changes for April 2015

 
Old Apr 6th 2015, 2:38 am
  #16  
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Default Re: UK Pensions Proposed Changes for April 2015

Thanks - the legislation has been passed in parliament and is now in force therefore you are able to access you funds etc at 55 if your pension fund allows.

My UK counterpart has informed me that there is a lot of fine tuning on the regulations and guidance on all of this and it may take a little while before it all sorts itself out.

In relation to what you pay in tax will depend on the size of your pension - if it is a small amount under the personal allowance and taxed paid can be claimed against this and therefore it would be tax free. If larger than 10600 GBP you will pay tax on it.

If you have a large amount then you may wish to consider options such as drawing down smaller amounts so you do not trigger large amounts of tax.

Setting up a bank account would not seem to be a problem as you indicated.

As I have been working very long hours I have not had the time to read through and work out the new legislation in finer details and as stated above a lot of the minor finer details is still being tossed around currently...

Guidance on all of this will come out over the next week weeks and it will all become clearer as this occurs.

Lastly it will depend on whom your funds are with, what type of pension rules they have currently and what type of pension fund type it is. This will affect outcomes for you and it would be suggested to talk with them and see how your pension fund fits into the new rules. But give it a couple of weeks for things to settled down as most are still recovering from dealing with the demands for transfers and obviously it will take some time for the new guidance to passed onto the pension funds.

Cheers John
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Old Apr 6th 2015, 4:38 am
  #17  
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Default Re: UK Pensions Proposed Changes for April 2015

Thanks for your reply John.

As mentioned will wait for the dust to settle.

Paul
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Old May 19th 2015, 9:20 am
  #18  
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Default Re: UK Pensions Proposed Changes for April 2015

Im sure that many ex pats are concerned about these changes to the pension scheme outlined in the 2015 Budget. My experience so far has not been so good and I wish to inform others who might be in a similar situation.
I have a Retirement Cash Fund with AEGON in the UK. and my Financial Advisers are Sanlam in Rhyl North Wales. I made inquiries about transferring the fund into a Flexi Account to make access easier.
AEGON tell me that I can only do a transfer through a Financial Adviser. Sanlam tell me that because I am not on UK soil they cannot help either. Im not sure which way to go from here, so expats be aware. If anybody has any advice I would be very happy to hear from you. Incidentally AEGON say that there would be no charge for a transfer, while Sanlam would charge 3% of the transferred amount
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Old May 25th 2015, 1:33 am
  #19  
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Default Re: UK Pensions Proposed Changes for April 2015

We transfer AEGON all the time, however if they are stating you are requiring a financial adviser in the UK then that would indicate that your fund is a UK Private Defined Benefit Scheme (final salary scheme) with an amount over 30,000 GBP. Unfortunately since 06 April 2015, any balance in a defined benefit scheme over 30 K GBP requires you to obtain advice from a UK Adviser to facilitate the transfer. Obviously this pushes up the cost of a transfer substantially.

I am unsure why Salam will not help you however if you contact me via email (addres in signature block) I may be able to sort the problem out or call them to resolve the issue anyway.

My UK Adviser is also able to provide advice normally at a lower cost than other sand at a flat rate fee. If anyone needs assistance in moving UK funds across just PM as it is now far too complex for most people to do themselves anymore. :-)
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Old Jun 9th 2015, 1:44 am
  #20  
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Default UK Pension Transfers to OZ on Hold!!

Yes that is right - most OZ super funds and some UK fund providers have placed the transfer or receipt of UK Pensions to OZ on hold pending confirmation that they still remain compliant with the QROPS rules.

HMRC has requested all receiving QROPS funds to confirm by the 16 th June 2015 that they are either compliant or not with the additional requirements.

Those additional requirements are simply that Retirement Funds are not able to be release funds to a member before aged 55 except in cases of serious ill health. This is with effect of 6 th April 2015.

Unfortunately Australia has additional clauses which allow for the limited release of funds in the event of either financial hardship or on compassionate grounds. This has lead to the pause on transfers by most funds until the issue is resolved.

Why on hold? Quite simply a transfer from the6th April 2015 will possibly result in a tax penalty of up to 55% if the Transfer funds are received by a Non QROPS fund.

The industry is working on solutions which may include an exemption by the HMRC or a slight change to rules buy the Australian Government to allow super funds to quarantine UK funds from the additional release clauses.

Regardless, it is up to the individual funds to advise HMRC by the 16th of June 2015 as to whether or not they remain compliant.

So for the time being it is a situation of wait and see.

I will update you as things become known.
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