Detailed guide: Overseas pensions: pension transfers

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Overview

You must tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about pension transfers from your QROPS that have received UK tax relief. You also need to provide information to the scheme manager or administrator who is receiving the pension.

You still need to report this information if you manage a former QROPS.

Your pension scheme can lose its QROPS status if you don’t provide this information within the time limit. Former QROPS may get an initial penalty of £300 and a daily penalty of up to £60 until they provide this information.

What to report to HMRC

You need to tell HMRC about any pension transfers from your scheme within 90 days if the scheme member either:

  • is a UK resident or has been a UK resident in the previous 5 tax years
  • first transferred their pension savings into your scheme in the last 10 years

Use form APSS253 to do this.

What to report to the new scheme manager or administrator

You need to give information to the new scheme manager or administrator if the member is a UK resident or has been in any of the last 5 tax years.

You must tell them within 91 days of the transfer from your scheme if you’ve:

  • paid the member a lump sum payment from their pension savings known as an ‘uncrystallised funds pension lump sum’
  • started paying from pension savings that have been invested to give an adjustable income (known as a ‘flexi-access drawdown pension’)

Transfers to another QROPS

You must also tell the new QROPS manager within 91 days of the transfer:

  • whether the pension was transferred to your scheme from a UK registered pension scheme or another QROPS, and if so the date
  • the value of pension savings that remain from the original transfer into your scheme (this will be the value of the original transfer if you haven’t made any payments from the pension savings)
  • the amount of any pension savings that have received UK tax relief since you started managing it

Transfers into your scheme

You don’t need to report transfers into your scheme, but HMRC might ask you for information about the pension savings you’ve received.


Source: HMRC