Wealthy Brits look to QROPS to keep their money from the taxman

Wealthy Brits are looking at moving their fortunes in to QROPS pensions as a way of stopping the taxman coming after their money.

A QROPS - a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme - is an offshore shelter designed to help expats take their pensions with them when they move abroad.

The schemes have tax advantages and other benefits that are not available to UK residents.

High net worth individuals are investigating how a QROPS could help them in the wake of the recent Robert Gaines-Cooper tax case in London.  The entrepreneur and multimillionaire was ordered to pay £30 million in tax after the court declared he was still a UK resident despite claiming he had lived in the Seychelles for many years.

The decision was based on evidence from HM Revenue and Customs that he had not broken all personal ties with the UK despite spending less than 91 days a year here because he still had a home in Oxfordshire.

QROPS pensions have several possible advantages:

• If a QROPS provider agrees, UK pension funds and assets can be transferred in to the offshore scheme before an individual leaves the country, according to the government’s pension advisery service.
• Some QROPS providers in certain countries allow more than a 25% tax-free cash lump sum drawdown on retirement
• Guernsey QROPS allow scheme members to take out large loans against a QROPS pension

The same rules about non-residency apply to QROPS as individuals - at some stage the scheme member has to cut all personal ties with the UK, like disposing of any home or other residential property.

QROPS pensions are not only for the extremely wealthy. All the benefits apply to any expat transferring UK pension funds in to the offshore scheme.

The tax issues can be tricky, as pension advisers have to consider rules in the UK, the country where the QROPS is established and the country where the scheme holder lives and how they interact with each other.

QROPS Adviser is a financial firm with a good reputation for successful QROPS transfers. One of their specialist consultants can help expats and international workers with UK pension rights find the right QROPS pension that suits their circumstances.

The firm handles hundreds of QROPS transfer each month and has a team of tax and investment specialists on hand to deal with any individual with complex financial affairs.