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Changes to the qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPs) regime have come into effect, with the result that fewer schemes will be recognised.
Schemes now have to meet new conditions to be a QROPS. In particular, the tax reliefs and exemptions on contributions and benefits must apply equally to non-resident and resident scheme members, regardless of when any resident member actually became resident. (An updated list of QROPs was published last week.)
HMRC have confirmed the measures, effective from 6 April 2012, are not retrospective. If a scheme that was a QROPs on 5 April no longer meets the revised provisos, members who have already transferred their pension savings will be able to remain as members and receive a pension paid from the sums transferred without incurring additional tax charges, said the Revenue.
There continue to be significant tax advantages to QROPs in spite of the changes, which Anna Morris, director of investment consultancy Rochester International, claimed are ‘a blueprint that will establish QROPs as the overseas pension of choice for the discerning expatriate client’ and are likely to be ‘in the offshore pension arena for a long time to come’.
