Technically Speaking: QROPS – Now you see them, now you don’t

Changes to the U.K. pension legislation earlier this year mean that all Australian superannuation funds, with one minor exception, will not be able to accept transfers of member’s benefits from U.K. pension funds.  In this Technically Speaking we discuss the impact of these changes and the issues that trustees and their advisers need to consider since the change from 6 April 2015.

*Update 10 August 2015
We have recently received an update on the current state of play between the Australian government and U.K. revenue authorities which does not provide us with any encouraging news.  An extract of relevant parts of the letter are:

“We understand that the new UK rules have created considerable uncertainty for people who were in the process of transferring money to Australia.  They have also raised questions about the future capacity for migrants and returning expatriates to transfer their UK retirement savings into Australia (most Australian funds were recently removed from the UK’s official list of QROPS schemes).

Treasury is working with the UK Government and its tax authorities on relief options for transferees as well as on ways of allowing QROPS transfers to Australia to resume in the future.  As part of this process we have consulted with Australian industry representatives and their legal advisers, including the FSC, ASFA and the SMSF Association.

We recognise the current situation is causing problems for transferees, funds and advisers.  For this reason, we are attempting to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution with UK authorities as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, we are not in a position to give any indication of when this may happen.”

The contents of this resource are taken to be correct at the time of publication.

Disclaimer: Technical Papers contain factual information only and are prepared without considering particular objectives, financial circumstances and needs. The information provided is not a substitute for legal, tax and financial product advice. The information contained in this document does not constitute advice given by the SMSF Association to you. If you rely on this information yourself or to provide advice to other persons, then you do so at your own risk. The SMSF Association is not licensed to provide financial product advice, legal advice or taxation advice. We recommend that you seek appropriate professional advice before relying upon the information in this technical paper. While the SMSF Association believes that the information provided is accurate, no warranty is given as to its accuracy and persons who rely on this information do so at their own risk. The information provided in this paper is not considered financial advice for the purposes of the Corporations Act 2001. © SMSF Association