If you have returned to India with a UK pension, or are planning to return to India in the near future, then transferring your UK pension to a QROPS scheme can you a variety of benefits.
The Transfer Process – a summary
1. Obtain a Transfer Valuation of your current pension assets. The first step in the QROPS transfer process for residents of India is to get up to date valuations for your UK pension (or pensions, if you have more than one).
2. After the ‘Cash Equivalent Transfer Value’ (or ‘CETV’) has been received, the scheme member’s financial adviser will be able to advise firstly, as to whether a transfer into a QROPS scheme is suitable, and secondly, if it is, the most suitable jurisdiction for the pension to be transferred to.
3. At this stage the financial adviser will also discuss the make--up of the investment portfolio with the client, and build a suitable portfolio which meets the client’s exact investment needs, according to his or her risk profile and investment and retirement objectives.
4. Complete the pension transfer paperwork. At this stage, all of the necessary paperwork is completed – QROPS trustee forms, UK pension discharge forms, and the forms required to open the investment account.
5. Once the UK pension scheme has processed the transfer, and sent the funds across to the QROPS pension scheme, the QROPS trustee will invest the funds as directed by the client and their financial adviser.
6. At this stage, your QROPS transfer is complete, and you can continue living and working in India, knowing that your hard earned pension fund is free from the hands of the UK taxman.
Variation in Transfer Process
The process of transferring your UK pension to a QROPS scheme in India will also depend on the type of pension that you have.
In terms of the process involved to transfer the pension across to India, there are broadly 3 different types of pension, which will involve different documentation requirements, and differing time frames to complete the transfer process. These are outlined below as follows:
NHS pension. The NHS pension scheme has very specific requirements for transferring out. In addition to the standard Letter of Authority, the NHS will require a duly completed TV Form TV 27, which requires other information needed to complete the valuation, such as whether the scheme member is married, and the date of marriage, divorce etc.
Transferring your NHS pension to India is one of the most complex transfers, both in relation to the paperwork required to be completed, and in how long it takes to complete the process. In addition, because the forthcoming ban on NHS pension transfers into QROPS (see below), there are significant delays, both to process the initial CETV, and then to process the transfer once all of the paperwork has been submitted.
Therefore, for clients who wish to transfer their NHS pension into a QROPS before the April 2015 deadline expires, they are strongly urged to start the process as soon as possible.
Private sector final salary schemes. Again, it often takes up to 3 months to process an up to date transfer valuation, as in some cases the pension scheme’s actuary will need to sign off on the valuation, which can cause a delay. However, once the valuation has been produced, the actual transfer of the pension is usually straight forward, taking between 3 and 6 weeks to complete.
Private sector pension schemes. These are usually straight forward, as the scheme administrator will not normally require an up to date valuation to commence the transfer process – usually the transfer forms will be completed by the client, sent to the scheme administrator, and they will run off the latest pension valuation at the time of the transfer. Transfers for these schemes can be completed in fairly short order, and the time to transfer varies between 2 and 4 weeks, depending on how efficient the UK scheme administrator is.
Additional information for transferring an NHS pension into a QROPS Scheme
Clients should be aware that after 5 April 2015, it will no longer be possible to transfer their NHS pension into a QROPS scheme. This is a result of the sweeping changes to the UK pension rules introduced by the UK government in the March 2014 Budget (and confirmed to parliament on 21 July 2014 – http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/July-2014/21%20July/Treasury-Pensions.pdf).
This ban will have a profound effect on the retirement plans of thousands of doctors who have already left the NHS and have returned to India to live or work – as it will mean that they cannot access their pension until the age of 60 – as opposed to 50 under a more flexible QROPS arrangement.
More information
If you want more information on how to transfer your UK pension to India, please contact QROPS Adviser Group by email at info@qropsadviser.in or call our UK office on +44 7582 589561.
The Transfer Process – a summary
1. Obtain a Transfer Valuation of your current pension assets. The first step in the QROPS transfer process for residents of India is to get up to date valuations for your UK pension (or pensions, if you have more than one).
2. After the ‘Cash Equivalent Transfer Value’ (or ‘CETV’) has been received, the scheme member’s financial adviser will be able to advise firstly, as to whether a transfer into a QROPS scheme is suitable, and secondly, if it is, the most suitable jurisdiction for the pension to be transferred to.
3. At this stage the financial adviser will also discuss the make--up of the investment portfolio with the client, and build a suitable portfolio which meets the client’s exact investment needs, according to his or her risk profile and investment and retirement objectives.
4. Complete the pension transfer paperwork. At this stage, all of the necessary paperwork is completed – QROPS trustee forms, UK pension discharge forms, and the forms required to open the investment account.
5. Once the UK pension scheme has processed the transfer, and sent the funds across to the QROPS pension scheme, the QROPS trustee will invest the funds as directed by the client and their financial adviser.
6. At this stage, your QROPS transfer is complete, and you can continue living and working in India, knowing that your hard earned pension fund is free from the hands of the UK taxman.
Variation in Transfer Process
The process of transferring your UK pension to a QROPS scheme in India will also depend on the type of pension that you have.
In terms of the process involved to transfer the pension across to India, there are broadly 3 different types of pension, which will involve different documentation requirements, and differing time frames to complete the transfer process. These are outlined below as follows:
NHS pension. The NHS pension scheme has very specific requirements for transferring out. In addition to the standard Letter of Authority, the NHS will require a duly completed TV Form TV 27, which requires other information needed to complete the valuation, such as whether the scheme member is married, and the date of marriage, divorce etc.
Transferring your NHS pension to India is one of the most complex transfers, both in relation to the paperwork required to be completed, and in how long it takes to complete the process. In addition, because the forthcoming ban on NHS pension transfers into QROPS (see below), there are significant delays, both to process the initial CETV, and then to process the transfer once all of the paperwork has been submitted.
Therefore, for clients who wish to transfer their NHS pension into a QROPS before the April 2015 deadline expires, they are strongly urged to start the process as soon as possible.
Private sector final salary schemes. Again, it often takes up to 3 months to process an up to date transfer valuation, as in some cases the pension scheme’s actuary will need to sign off on the valuation, which can cause a delay. However, once the valuation has been produced, the actual transfer of the pension is usually straight forward, taking between 3 and 6 weeks to complete.
Private sector pension schemes. These are usually straight forward, as the scheme administrator will not normally require an up to date valuation to commence the transfer process – usually the transfer forms will be completed by the client, sent to the scheme administrator, and they will run off the latest pension valuation at the time of the transfer. Transfers for these schemes can be completed in fairly short order, and the time to transfer varies between 2 and 4 weeks, depending on how efficient the UK scheme administrator is.
Additional information for transferring an NHS pension into a QROPS Scheme
Clients should be aware that after 5 April 2015, it will no longer be possible to transfer their NHS pension into a QROPS scheme. This is a result of the sweeping changes to the UK pension rules introduced by the UK government in the March 2014 Budget (and confirmed to parliament on 21 July 2014 – http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/July-2014/21%20July/Treasury-Pensions.pdf).
This ban will have a profound effect on the retirement plans of thousands of doctors who have already left the NHS and have returned to India to live or work – as it will mean that they cannot access their pension until the age of 60 – as opposed to 50 under a more flexible QROPS arrangement.
More information
If you want more information on how to transfer your UK pension to India, please contact QROPS Adviser Group by email at info@qropsadviser.in or call our UK office on +44 7582 589561.
