Detailed guide: Overseas pensions: payments to your members

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Overview

You need to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and your members about payments from pension savings if you’re the scheme manager of a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (QROPS).

You only need to tell HMRC about payments from pension savings that have received UK tax relief.

Tell HMRC about a payment

You need to tell HMRC within 90 days when you make a payment or purchase taxable property from pension savings that either:

  • were transferred to your scheme in the last 10 years
  • are paid to or in respect of a scheme member who is a UK resident or has been a UK resident in the previous 5 tax years

You have to report:

  • when you start making regular pension payments
  • lump sum payments
  • pension transfers
  • when the member surrenders their pension funds or gives them to someone else

You can use form APSS253 to do this.

You don’t need to report a payment if the funds that were transferred to your scheme have been used up.

HMRC can remove your QROPS status if you:

  • don’t tell them about a payment on time
  • give incorrect information

Report purchases of taxable property

You’ll also have to tell HMRC if your scheme allows your members to influence how their pension is invested and your scheme buys taxable property. You’ll always have to report this if you use pension savings that have received UK tax relief.

Use form APSS253 to do this. Report purchases of taxable property as an ‘Other payment’ in the ‘Types of payment’ section of this form.

Flexi-access pension payments

You must give your members a flexible access statement when you:

  • start making payments from pension savings that have been invested to give an adjustable income (known as a ‘flexi-access drawdown pension’)
  • pay a lump sum payment from their pension savings known as an ‘uncrystallised funds pension lump sum’

You need to do this if your member:

  • is a UK resident or has been a UK resident in the previous 5 tax years
  • hasn’t flexibly accessed their pension before

You need to send the flexible access statement within 91 days of the payment.

What to put in a flexible access statement

You need to tell the member that they:

  • have flexibly accessed their pension savings and the date they first did it
  • need to give a copy of the flexible access statement to the scheme manager or administrator of any pension schemes they join or pay into

You also need to tell them that if they contribute more than £10,000 into a money purchase or certain hybrid arrangements:

  • they’ll have to pay an annual allowance charge on the amount over £10,000
  • their annual allowance for other types of pensions will be reduced by £10,000


Source: HMRC