Readers' forum : Pension problem

My client was resident in South Africa until 2003 where he contributed to a retirement annuity. He continued to pay into this while in the UK and received tax relief under the UK-South Africa double taxation agreement. The client is now 53 and has been told that he can withdraw the entire fund subject to tax in South Africa and remit it to the UK. He is no longer resident in South Africa and is self-employed and resident here.

How should this be dealt with for UK tax purposes? Due to the client’s age none of HMRC’s rules on the taxation of lump sums from pensions appears to apply here. Should the whole lump sum be treated as income in the year of receipt with credit for South African tax? Alternatively is only the portion relating to UK tax-relieved contributions taxable here? Perhaps I...