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.

5 minutes ago, Gbye grey sky said:

It is too early yet for me to feel confident to recommend them to be honest.

I applied last year and, just as I had completed everything the fund was suspended by HMRC pending some sort of investigation and enquiry which dragged on for 9 months before being resolved.  I was never told anything about the issue.

I then had to make a decision whether to restart the process which I did and the transfer was completed in July.  If you are not proceeding until next year by all means check back with me on this thread and I might be able to provide more reassurance.

This still remains the only retail fund so it is this or an SMSF for now.

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).

3 minutes ago, be_christopher said:

Has anyone taken the 25% tax free amount before transferring to Australia? It's not clear to me if the tax free status from the UK is preserved in Australia. 

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.

12 minutes ago, Gbye grey sky said:

I have transferred my pension to the AESF using IVCM. It was more straightforward for me because my funds were valued at under $300,000 at the time I emigrated.

It is good that your UK SiPP provider is working with you because my wife’s provider wouldn’t so we ended up leaving her pension in the UK. 

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. 

18 hours ago, be_christopher said:

Thanks for the comment,. Leaving it in the UK is an option though I'd like to take advantage of the 6 month tax window and keep all my pension arrangements as simple as possible. 

I don't know my tax calculation is correct. A 45% tax on any amount over $AUS 300,000 seems prohibitive. 

 

"Jun 10, 2019 - If you transfer your UK pension to an Australian one within six months of moving to Australia, then you can do so without any tax implications. If, however, you don't make the transfer until after that period, the amount you transfer will be subject to a 15% tax, according to the Australian Tax Office, or ATO."

 

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