Moving my UK Pension to QROPS (AESF)

[pingpong pom]

I am 64 years old, was born in the UK and have dual UK/Australian citizenship. I have lived and worked in Australia for around 9 years and I been living and working back in the UK since July 2018. I am moving back to Australia in November to retire. I have 1 UK defined benefit pension that I am currently receiving that I intend to leave alone as its indexed linked. I also have 4 UK defined contribution pensions that I haven't drawn upon, 1 is very small and I intend to withdraw the entire pension, I'm planning on consolidating the other 3 pensions and taking a 25% lump sum as my UK  tax free allowance before moving to Australia, I then intend to transfer the consolidated defined contribution pension to an Australian Retail Super Fund that is QROPS approved (I understand that the only such fund is the Australian Expatriate Super Fund (AESF)).

The main question that I have is that when transferring my pension to QROPS I will need to calculate the Applicable Fund Earnings (AEF), I understand that this is calculated by determining how much the fund value has grown since my date of Australian residency, however, I'm not sure what my date of residency will be as I have been ping ponging between the UK and Australia ie will it be the first date that I became an Australian resident or will it be the first day that I arrive back in Australia for my retirement? if it is the former I'm not sure of the exact date and I was wondering if this will be an official date that will be held by the ATO so I could contact them for the exact date. 

The other question that I have is that once I have transferred my pension to a QROPS fund am I able to withdraw any amount tax free straight away (I may need to dip into it to a greater or lesser extent to fund my house purchase in Australia), and is the QROPS fund just intended to be temporary or can my money stay in the fund until it has been exhausted.

Any advice on the above will be gratefully received 

Thanks, Stephen

[Tulip1]

2 hours ago, pingpong pom said:

I am 64 years old, was born in the UK and have dual UK/Australian citizenship. I have lived and worked in Australia for around 9 years and I been living and working back in the UK since July 2018. I am moving back to Australia in November to retire. I have 1 UK defined benefit pension that I am currently receiving that I intend to leave alone as its indexed linked. I also have 4 UK defined contribution pensions that I haven't drawn upon, 1 is very small and I intend to withdraw the entire pension, I'm planning on consolidating the other 3 pensions and taking a 25% lump sum as my UK  tax free allowance before moving to Australia, I then intend to transfer the consolidated defined contribution pension to an Australian Retail Super Fund that is QROPS approved (I understand that the only such fund is the Australian Expatriate Super Fund (AESF)).

The main question that I have is that when transferring my pension to QROPS I will need to calculate the Applicable Fund Earnings (AEF), I understand that this is calculated by determining how much the fund value has grown since my date of Australian residency, however, I'm not sure what my date of residency will be as I have been ping ponging between the UK and Australia ie will it be the first date that I became an Australian resident or will it be the first day that I arrive back in Australia for my retirement? if it is the former I'm not sure of the exact date and I was wondering if this will be an official date that will be held by the ATO so I could contact them for the exact date. 

The other question that I have is that once I have transferred my pension to a QROPS fund am I able to withdraw any amount tax free straight away (I may need to dip into it to a greater or lesser extent to fund my house purchase in Australia), and is the QROPS fund just intended to be temporary or can my money stay in the fund until it has been exhausted.

Any advice on the above will be gratefully received 

Thanks, Stephen

I think you need to speak to a professional.  This forum may have people giving you answers with the best intentions but that doesn’t mean it’s the best advice.  It’s worth a small outlay to get the best advice on how to handle this.   

[InnerVoice]

7 hours ago, pingpong pom said:

I am 64 years old, was born in the UK and have dual UK/Australian citizenship. I have lived and worked in Australia for around 9 years and I been living and working back in the UK since July 2018. I am moving back to Australia in November to retire. I have 1 UK defined benefit pension that I am currently receiving that I intend to leave alone as its indexed linked. I also have 4 UK defined contribution pensions that I haven't drawn upon, 1 is very small and I intend to withdraw the entire pension, I'm planning on consolidating the other 3 pensions and taking a 25% lump sum as my UK  tax free allowance before moving to Australia, I then intend to transfer the consolidated defined contribution pension to an Australian Retail Super Fund that is QROPS approved (I understand that the only such fund is the Australian Expatriate Super Fund (AESF)).

The main question that I have is that when transferring my pension to QROPS I will need to calculate the Applicable Fund Earnings (AEF), I understand that this is calculated by determining how much the fund value has grown since my date of Australian residency, however, I'm not sure what my date of residency will be as I have been ping ponging between the UK and Australia ie will it be the first date that I became an Australian resident or will it be the first day that I arrive back in Australia for my retirement? if it is the former I'm not sure of the exact date and I was wondering if this will be an official date that will be held by the ATO so I could contact them for the exact date. 

The other question that I have is that once I have transferred my pension to a QROPS fund am I able to withdraw any amount tax free straight away (I may need to dip into it to a greater or lesser extent to fund my house purchase in Australia), and is the QROPS fund just intended to be temporary or can my money stay in the fund until it has been exhausted.

Any advice on the above will be gratefully received 

Thanks, Stephen

Hi Stephen, people often post pension questions and in most cases their circumstances are much simpler than yours, but even then, the general feedback is get advice from a tax specialist with a thorough knowledge of both the UK and Australian tax systems. Initial consultation fees are not that much.

For what it's worth, I think the answer to your first question is from the first date that you became an Australian resident, and the answer to your second question is 'yes', you can withdraw any amount tax free because that's how Australian superannuation works, if you've reached the preservation age (which is usually 60). That said, you shouldn't even consider transferring your UK private pension to a QROPS fund until you've received professional advice, as there are significant costs involved.

[pingpong pom]

Thanks very much for your response, I'm just trying to get my head around this complex area at the moment but I agree with you and other posts that I will have to seek professional advice - thanks again

[Steve Elliott]

I am a financial adviser but not in this specialist area. I too am in the process of transferring a UK pension to AESF and would strongly suggest seeking out specialist advice both in terms of when you became resident in Australia, the type of visa you initially entered Australia on arrived on etc. The ATO website does have a section on this which is helpful. Flight ticket might be a useful starting point as well as visa grant notice. In terms of taking income /lump sum from your QROPS, the fund still has reporting requirements back to HMRC for several years but this is something the trustee will usually take care of on your behalf. - If I were you, I would talk to an experienced and qualified professional as mistakes can be costly. Andrew Williams at Vista  would be a good person to talk to.

Good luck

[pingpong pom]

6 hours ago, Steve Elliott said:

I am a financial adviser but not in this specialist area. I too am in the process of transferring a UK pension to AESF and would strongly suggest seeking out specialist advice both in terms of when you became resident in Australia, the type of visa you initially entered Australia on arrived on etc. The ATO website does have a section on this which is helpful. Flight ticket might be a useful starting point as well as visa grant notice. In terms of taking income /lump sum from your QROPS, the fund still has reporting requirements back to HMRC for several years but this is something the trustee will usually take care of on your behalf. - If I were you, I would talk to an experienced and qualified professional as mistakes can be costly. Andrew Williams at Vista  would be a good person to talk to.

Good luck

Thanks Steve - yes I have decided to contact Andrew Williams for specialist advice