Skippy2017

I've spent a lot of time studying these transfers recently. It's complicated. How much would you be transferring after taking the 25% tax free? If £150k or less you should be OK. If over £150k (rough conversion of the NCC cap limit of AUD $300k) for the first tranche check whether the part to be transferred from the UK SIPP is sufficiently-separate from the remainder of the UK pension. There's a rule that says that to be an authorised transfer it must be from an "arrangement under which no other sums or assets are held". It's not clear to me which UK SIPPs have drawdown arrangements that are sufficiently-separate from the remainder of the pension in the SIPP (not in drawdown). To be confident that each transfer is separate enough you can open up multiple SIPPs. For me it's a shame to have to do this because after taking advice over the years I have consolidated separate SIPPs into one because I was told that would make the transfer easier. Now the advice I'm getting is to split them out again I've looked a lot at the AESF and IVCM. Watch the ongoing fees which seem high to me. It might be that for smaller pension pots the AESF is appropriate but for larger pots a SMSF becomes better value despite the extra costs involved in running it. It would be great for another retail scheme to come along and create a bit of competition for AESF so that their ongoing fees came under a bit of pressure.

Thanks. I hope it works out well for you.

USA: That certainly adds an extra level of complexity! The planned process for me was for the first payment I would move (roughly) £200k to drawdown whilst tax-resident in the UK - and take the 25% tax -free (£50k). Then migrate to Australia, then (within 6 months) move the remaining £150k that's in that drawdown state to the Aus QROPS. (£150k = $300k for simple sums). After 3 yrs move another $300k (but not going through the drawdown step again because I wouldn't want to take the 25% whilst resident in Australia for tax).

I was planning to do that but the timing is important. You can do that by making sure you take it whilst tax resident in the UK. There is no such benefit for this in Australia so you can't do it once resident there.

That's good to hear. So far you are happy with IVCM and the AESF?

Yes, I believe it's $300k in yr 1 then $100k/yr from yr 4

Yes I have been waiting for an Australian retail QROPS for a long time. Without that I might have gone for a SMSF but I don't fancy all the admin and responsibilities... As for the tax on the future contributions. As far as I understand it you will only be paying tax on the gain since you arrived back in Australia. Hence it depends on the performance... I'm not worried about this tax too much. I'm not expecting growth to exceed 5% per year in my UK SIPP.

I am in a fairly similar position. I'm in the UK now and planning to return to Australia in Sep 2020. My plan (provisionally) is to transfer $300k the first year, then $100k each year after that from my UK SIPP to an Australian QROPS. I'm actually looking at the IVCM retail QROPS (AESF) which seems to meet my requirements. If I end up leaving a part of my pension in a UK SIPP because I run out of time to transfer it all, so be it. The tax on pension payments of what remains in the UK will be relatively small (assuming it will then be my only income) . (I'd compare that tax against the tax on the contribution into the Australian QROPS in later years to determine whether future transfers were appropriate). My UK SIPP provider has confirmed ways to extract chunks from the SIPP to support this long process. Interested to hear from anyone who has used IVCM (AESF) to hear of their experiences.

Hi, I am married but my wife will migrate to Australia and be tax resident there probably for 2 or 3 yrs before I will migrate myself. She will work and pay taxes in Australia and live in a house in Australia that we will buy. I will stay in the UK in our main residence where my wife and I have lived for 16 years. When I sell the family home in the UK (let's say in 2 years from now) what is the CGT situation? I'm pretty sure I would have no CGT liability as I'm resident in the house and a UK tax payer. The question is really about my wife's situation. Is there a CGT liability in both the UK AND in Australia? Are there any allowances for it being her "main" residence despite not having lived there for 2 years? I read somewhere that to get CGT relief in the UK she must live in the UK house for 90 days in the year. This may not be possible in her case. I've started thinking about taking her name off the deeds of the house as a solution but it seems a bit drastic!! Thanks in advance for your comments! Skippy

We lived in Nedlands (in Kingsway) and I can honestly say it was the best place we ever lived. We left there in the late 1990s for the UK and sold our house (which was a shame because property prices there have gone crazy). Anyway, we're heading back to Perth next year and would love to return to Nedlands but it may now be out of our budget. We'll see. Our children went to the Nedlands primary school which was fine. There are top senior schools all around but some are private. If your children are lucky enough to get into UWA then that's on the doorstep. I used to cycle/run to work in the CBD along the path by the river... When you compare commutes in NYC or London, it just doesn't get any better...

Thanks for your reply. My preference is to transfer to an Australian scheme. I would expect the ATO to view any offshore pension with a degree of suspicion... Waiting until 55 would rather mess up my migration plans however. Hopefully some suitable ROPS will reappear on the list soon. As for the $540 limit... My pensions are in different places so I can easily select one or two that sum to the limit and leave the others where they are. Regards.

Since HMRC reduced the number of Australian QROPS from 1600 to 1 what is the current advice for those wishing to transfer UK pensions to Australia? Leave the pensions in the UK? Cross fingers and hope some QROPS get back on the list before it's too late? Use a QROPS in some other location (eg Malta)? FYI HMRC QROPS list is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-qualifying-recognised-overseas-pension-schemes-qrops/list-of-recognised-overseas-pension-schemes-notifications#australia I know that every case is different so to be more specific: Let us say the pensions involved amount to around £300k and I am 53yrs old. I will retire in Australia but not need to touch the pension until at least 60yrs of age, probably 65.

I am planning to migrate back to Oz next year (I am an Australian citizen so no visa issues). I have been living away from Australia for almost 20 yrs. I have 50% shares in a UK Ltd company - I currently work for this company through a Partnership in the UK that I plan to close. I own 50% of the shares and a colleague (who is tax resident in France) owns the other 50%. We want to keep the UK company going. I was planning to open a new Partnership (of my wife & I) in Australia and invoice the UK company through that. Does this sound like a sensible way to operate? I've heard of issues with CFCs and I'm unsure of the implications of these. Are there also some issues to be aware of with personal service entities? The Partnership I plan to open would only have one client (the UK company that I own 50% of shares in). I appreciate any advice on the subject. Thanks.