Ongoing compliance essential for overseas pensions: expert
SMSFs receiving a UK pension require ongoing compliance as rule changes are not usually grandfathered and could result in an SMSF losing its status, says an industry mentor.
David Busoli, director of SMSF Alliance, said ongoing compliance with His Majesty’s Revenue and Custom’s (HRMC) reporting regime is critical but can be problematic.
“Rule changes are usually not grandfathered and will be effective from the day of announcement,” he said.
“As an HMRC-approved scheme administrator, SMSF Alliance receives weekly HMRC regulation updates to ensure we remain proactive in this regard.”
SMSF Alliance is capable of receiving UK pension transfers with a specialty in QROPS funds, he said.
Specialist financial advice firm, bdh sterling, said QROPS is an HMRC requirement and stands for Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme. If an individual wishes to transfer their existing UK pension benefits into an Australian superannuation fund they must ensure it has QROPS status.
The ATO limits the number of countries from which it allows pension funds to be transferred.
The UK is one of the few on this list, but it is not a straightforward process as not all UK pension arrangements can be transferred.
Individuals are not allowed to transfer:
- If it is a UK State Pension.
- Any pension that is already in payment.
- A government-backed defined benefit (DB) scheme, such as the NHS pension scheme.
- Any company pension scheme in the PPF (Pension Protection Fund).
- Any annuities one has already purchased with a life insurance company.
It’s also not possible to transfer a pension under the age of 55.
Transfers from a UK pension scheme to a QROPS are authorised transfers. If an individual was to transfer to a non-qualifying overseas pension scheme, they are likely to incur an HMRC tax charge of 55 per cent.
To comply with the HMRC guidelines regarding the setting up of a QROPS, scheme administrators will be required to make certain commitments on reporting matters to the relevant tax authorities.
Another restriction to be aware of is once the transfer to the QROPS has taken place, individuals will need to be a tax resident in Australia at the time of the QROPS transfer and remain so for the following five complete UK tax years. Failure to meet this requirement will result in HMRC imposing an overseas transfer charge of up to 25 per cent of the original transferred fund.
“Applicants for SMSF QROPS approval must generally post the application, along with the deed, to HMRC,” Mr Busoli said.
“We merely email the application. HMRC provide a maximum 10-day processing time from receipt of applications before approving, or rejecting, an SMSF for UK Pension transfer purposes.”
He added the time frame for an approved administrator like SMSF Alliance is generally two days which, when combined with the use of email and pre-approved deed wording, provides a much faster service.
“As scheme administrators we also have a designated HMRC case officer which further increases our ability to deal with issues on an ongoing basis,” he said.
“Due to our focus on proactive deed wordings, our QROPS deed does not suffer from the shortcomings inherent in some other deeds that have been developed for QROPS transfer purposes as their primary focus rather than their general usefulness.”
“We know that UK/Australian Law conflicts can be difficult to navigate so we have ensured that all parties are aware of the additional administrative steps involved whilst our processes ensure that we meet all HMRC due dates and requirements on an ongoing basis,” he said.
“Failure to do so may result in the SMSF's QROPS status being revoked.”
