We are the QROPS press experts, regularly being called on for expert coverage of NZ QROPS. Our QROPS press is driven by our expert staff who are regularly featured in New Zealand and International financial publications.
UK pension holders are moving quickly to control their pension entitlements
17 March 2018
Nearly 80% of people who have lived and worked in the UK have a private or company pension. So what happens in the UK pension market has a significant impact on millions of people, as well as thousands of British expats in New Zealand and the Kiwi’s who’ve worked in the UK on their OE…read more
Brexit and UK pension transfers and UK pensions
2 July 2016
There has been a lot of talk of the implications of the Brexit vote and what it will mean for the UK in general. But what, in practical terms, is it likely to mean for those with UK pensions and those thinking about transferring their pensions?…read more
The newer more straightforward system adopted by the IRD for UK pension transfers is to be welcomed
14 June 2016
Much has been made recently of people getting tax notices from the Inland Revenue for pensions that they had transferred to New Zealand. Should everyone be crying for people that have received tax bills?…read more
New rules will limit cash for NZ QROPS transfers
1 March 2016
In the latest of a series of developments to hit the business of transferring UK pensions to New Zealand, new rules have been approved that will reduce the amount of cash pensioners may withdraw at the age of 55 in that country to approximately 10%, beginning later this year…read more
More issues for UK pension transfers to NZ QROPS
16 February 2016
Since the turmoil of UK regulations that eliminated all KiwiSavers and Australian schemes as qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS) – therefore not allowing UK pensions to be transferred to them since April 2015 – it has been quiet on the legislative front. However, new New Zealand rules coming later in the year could throw the cat among the pigeons again…read more
IRD tries to sort out overseas pension mess
9 June 2015
Inland Revenue has been holding discussions with its UK counterpart to try to sort out the mess left after all KiwiSaver schemes were removed from the list of recognised overseas pension schemes.
The UK legislation, which came in on April 6, has imposed a minimum age requirement of 55 years to access funds transferred from UK pension schemes to qualifying registered overseas pension schemes (QROPS)…read more
HMRC slams UK pension transfers to KiwiSaver
23 May 2015
Two and a half years ago we wrote about the risks of transferring your UK pension to KiwiSaver and it seems the chickens have come home to roost. On Monday this week the HMRC removed all KiwiSaver schemes from the list of recognised overseas pension schemes…read more
Anger at latest HMRC overseas pension clampdown
6 May 2015
A fresh clampdown on overseas pension schemes in light of revised pension fund access age rules could see UK ex-pats in a number of jurisdictions facing the prospect of penalty charges and has provoked an angry reaction from one trade body in New Zealand.
Yesterday (5 May), FTAdviser revealed HMRC has backdated regulations brought in following pension access reforms in April. The watchdog has sent letters to schemes requesting they affirm savers are unable to access their fund prior to age 55 unless due to severe ill health…read more
UK pension muddle deepens
14 April 2014
If you thought your UK pension assets were safe after the radical New Zealand foreign pension tax reforms – guess again. Now the UK government is having a crack by entirely rewriting the UK pension landscape. Everyone with a UK pension is affected by two proposed seismic changes:
- The removal of any flexibility and freedom on final salary/defined benefit schemes by locking people into these schemes into perpetuity
- Opening up access and benefit flexibility in defined contribution schemes…read more
Full scheme ahead
13 March 2014
Given the average transfer value of British pensions is several hundred thousand dollars, many people will be pleased by the news that Inland Revenue has extended the deadline for transferring foreign pensions to New Zealand. That will allow more people to take advantage of the tax “amnesty” that had been due to expire on April 1.
The change means anyone wanting to transfer an overseas pension to New Zealand just has to have kicked off the process to qualify for a discounted tax rate…read more
The Government has granted a temporary stay of execution on foreign pension transfers
19 February 2014
The NZ government has today announced an extension to the deadline of the proposed tax amnesty for the transfer of foreign pensions to New Zealand. Under the previous iteration of the rules the IRD had created a special amnesty that allows anyone that transfers their foreign pension to New Zealand prior to 1 April 2014 to declare only 15% of the transfer as income (which at the top tax rate is around a 5% tax on the total transfer value)…read more
Foreign Fish Hooks
2 January 2014
My December 14 column on overseas pensions sparked a lot of reader interest. To recap, people who have worked in the UK or elsewhere and paid into a superannuation fund can transfer its current worth to New Zealand. For some who had forgotten about the payments, that could represent a significant windfall. The catch is you should have been paying tax on the increase in its value…read more
The big differences between the two methods the IRD gives you to transfer your pensions
12 December 2013
There has been lots of recent attention on the IRD’s plans to introduce a new tax regime on foreign pensions and the fact that the IRD are offering a special amnesty rate of only having to declare 15% of any foreign pension transfer as income. This obviously looks really attractive when the amount of a transfer that you have to declare as income can rise to up to 100% post 1 April 2014. Lifting the hood a little more on the legislation…read more
Proposed tax changes for foreign super
13 December 2013
Recipients of overseas superannuation schemes are being urged to pay attention to proposed new tax rules. The Taxation (annual rates, foreign superannuation and remedial matters) Bill passed its second reading in Parliament earlier this week.
Changes propose a “simpler and fairer system” by which foreign superannuation is taxed if recipients receive it as a lump sum when transferring funds to New Zealand…read more
Taxman lines up king hit on overseas pensions
7 December 2013
Hundreds of thousands of Kiwis are up for a tax king hit. And many of them have no idea it’s coming. Readers with overseas superannuation and pensions in countries other than Australia could be hit with tax at their marginal rate on up to 100 per cent of the value of the pension thanks to new tax rules…read more
British expats told to transfer pensions
6 December 2013
British expats in New Zealand who have as much as $10 billion in UK pensions have been warned to transfer their pensions to New Zealand soon to avoid losing big chunks of their savings to the taxman.
The Taxation (Annual Rates, Foreign Superannuation, and Remedial Matters) Bill which sets out simplified new tax rules on overseas superannuation schemes passed its second reading in Parliament yesterday…read more
Catch your overseas windfall
5 December 2013
If you’ve ever worked in the United Kingdom or elsewhere overseas, you could be in for a windfall worth thousands.
The money comes from what you paid into a superannuation fund and its increase in value since. But there’s also a catch: you’re meant to have paid tax on its growth in value every year – and most people don’t…read more
Warning over bigger tax bills on foreign pensions
25 November 2013
New IRD tax proposals will severely impact tens of thousands of NZ resident UK pension holders
19 October 2013
The IRD are proposing a new tax regime for foreign pension holders, mainly targeted at the over 250,000 British and Irish expats as well as the many thousands of Kiwi’s that have lived are worked in the UK. The changes are targeted as clearing up the complicated rules on taxation of foreign pensions and eliminating the massive non-compliance with existing tax rules…read more
The pros and pitfalls of transferring UK pension funds into KiwiSaver
13 September 2012
So how applicable are KiwiSaver schemes as receiving schemes for UK pension transfers given that KiwiSaver is set up for expressly different purposes and that the KiwiSaver regime is methodologically different from the UK pensions regime (you can have multiple employment and personal pensions in the UK at any one time)?…read more
