Isle of Man enhances QROPS offering
The Isle of Man's parliament, Tynwald, has approved legislation
to introduce a new type of pension scheme which will be suitable
for British expatriates looking to transfer their pension rights
offshore.
In today's economic environment of low interest rates,
increasing taxes and with the UK government's forced austerity
measures ahead, more and more people will be considering the
benefits of retirement abroad and one potential solution is a
qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (QROPS).
The new Isle of Man pension scheme is designed to meet HMRC
regulations on QROPS and any payments made to non-Isle of Man
residents will be paid gross and will not be subject to Isle of Man
income tax. All schemes under the new rules will have a local
provider, and will be fully regulated by the island's Insurance and
Pensions Authority. The law came into effect on 22 October.
We are able to offer QROPS through our
preferred partners in the Isle of Man and the key advantage is the
ability to consolidate all a client's UK pension holdings in one
offshore structure with no cap on the transfer value. This can
result in reduced costs and simplified administration, and create
extensive opportunities for investment management.
In addition to a wider choice of investments, QROPS also offer a
higher level of flexibility than many UK pension schemes. As
well as having the ability to utilise pension drawdown applicable
to Isle of Man personal pension schemes, a lump sum of up to 30% of
the fund is available. There is also no requirement to purchase an
annuity within a QROPS and any remaining fund following death
should be available to beneficiaries without the deduction of UK
tax, which offers significant estate, domiciliary and succession
planning opportunities.
If you would like to find out more about this service, please
contact your relationship manager directly or our client services
team on +44 (0) 1624 645000.