As at 1 July 2015 all UK Pension transfers were placed on hold, following the removal of 1800 QROPS schemes from the UK approved list of schemes. Australia’s overarching superannuation rules, which allow for the early release of funds prior to the UK Pension Age Test of 55, contravened UK Pensions Legislation.  As a resultread more

New Rules for Public Sector Pensions As at 6th April 2015 the UK Government enacted the Pensions Act 2015 which introduced massive change to UK based pensions, some of which may adversely affect individuals living abroad. The new rules dictate that individuals who have established benefits in a public sector defined benefit pension scheme willread more

The UK Government have issued a notice that with effect from 6th April 2015,  it will no longer be possible to transfer pension benefits retained within an unfunded public sector final salary scheme.  This affects the majority of public sector schemes but not all of them. At the time of writing, the legislation required to enactread more

Have you ever worked in the UK? This is a question that is more often than not answered with a ‘yes’ for residents of Australia. If you did previously work in the UK and paid National Insurance contributions (an additional tax that was deducted from your wages as an employee) then you are probably dueread more

On 19th March 2014 the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave his budget that signaled a raft of changes that will have significant impact on expatriates that have retained pension benefits in the UK. The changes which have been branded the ‘liberalisation of pensions’ came into effect from 27th March 2014 and will provide transitional changesread more

Happy New Year!  Now that the festive season is over, and we are midway through the financial year, it is a good opportunity to prepare for any further planning before 30th June, 2014. Your birthday, whilst being significant to you, is also a critical planning opportunity to save tax and improve your retirement savings. Forread more