Ireland Pensions transfer to Non-EU countrie’s International pension schemes-Pension Portability option to India.

Any Indian/PIO/OCI/NRI working in Ireland should know that portability of  pensions are a extremely complex area and before leaving Ireland the Member should sought expert advice on transferring his/her Ireland pensions to India or to any other jurisdictions of his/her choice. In case, the Member is planning to leave Ireland for short period of time, then the Member should look at tax impacts if the Member wishes to continue to contribute to Irish pension account while being in Overseas & also the tax implication on the returns earned by the Irish pension scheme whilst Member is in Overseas.

The protection riders like social security and any other extra benefits or amount of pensionable service the transfer value payment of Ireland pension pot will buy in the receiving pension scheme in other countries will depend on the overseas country.

In case, if an India based Ireland resident moving to the countries that are covered by EU & EEA regulations, it is treated in the similar way as the country’s own residents. In such a scenario then the Member has to fill prescribed forms like E104 etc., that will give the details of social security details to avail benefits claim.

The pension board is obligated to oversee occupational pensions and PRSAs when it comes to transferring pensions to overseas scheme. There are few important requirements under the provisions of ‘The Occupational Pension Schemes & Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (Overseas Transfer Payments) Regulations to be adhered to before to an Overseas transfer being made under the provisions of Pensions Acts. The following are the important requirements to be adhered to:

a)       The trustees or PRSA provider are required to obtain written confirmation from the trustees, custodians, managers or administrators of the overseas arrangement, to which the transfer is to be made, to the effect that the overseas arrangement provides "relevant benefits" within the meaning of  relevant provisions of Taxes Consolidation Act.

b)      The trustees or PRSA provider must be satisfied that the overseas arrangement is approved by an appropriate regulatory authority for the country concerned.

c)      The trustees or PRSA provider of the Irish arrangement must obtain from the member of the arrangement or the PRSA contributor wishing to make the transfer such information as may be approved by the Pensions Board.

India based Ireland expats can make the most by transferring their Ireland pensions to an IRDA recognized pension scheme in India. Many India based Ireland expats like Doctors, engineers & other highly qualified professionals working in Ireland & have contributed & still have been contributing to Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) in Ireland.

To know in detail about the benefits or amount of pensionable service the transfer value payment of Ireland pension pot will buy in the receiving pension scheme in India & also To know more about the options, pension schemes available in India to get your Ireland pensions transferred, I wish to schedule a free, no obligation telephone consultation to discuss ways I can help yourself and any of your colleagues who has accumulated pension fund in Ireland. I can also be reached with the following contact details.

Mr Ravi Kumar. Financial Consultant (Code: 60272381), Exide Life Insurance Co Ltd. Branch- B 21, # 28, 6th floor, Centenary building, M.G Road, Bangalore-560 001.

Cell:     +919844519872, +919980927393
Email:  ravi.sampige@gmail.com

Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme.(QROPS): India based Ireland expats can avail tax advantage...

Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme.(QROPS): India based Ireland expats can avail tax advantage...: India based Ireland expats can make the most by transferring their Ireland pensions to an IRDA recognized pension scheme in India. Many In...

India based Ireland expats can avail tax advantages by transferring Ireland Pensions to India based Pension schemes

India based Ireland expats can make the most by transferring their Ireland pensions to an IRDA recognized pension scheme in India. Many India based Ireland expats like Doctors, engineers & other highly qualified professionals working in Ireland & have contributed & still have been contributing to Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) in Ireland.

One of the major advantages in transferring the Ireland pensions to a Recognised pension scheme in India is a tax advantage that member enjoys in India. The pension benefits in Ireland are generally subject to many kinds of Iresh taxes like:

Ø  Capital Acquisition tax (CAT)

Ø  Iresh Income  tax

Ø  Universal social charge (USC)

Ø  Pension levy etc

Taxing rate of pension benefits in Ireland differs on different phases & options like, the drawdown phase, accumulation phase etc. Under drawdown phase, there are two options:  pension lumpsum option and Annuity option etc.

For instance, under Annuity option, the income from Annuities is liable to Income tax & Universal Social Charge(USC). Similarly, the taxing rate is different if the pension Member dies before drawing down PRSA benefits.

For one’s information, the rate of Iresh CAT(capital acquisition tax) is currently 33%. Under pension lumpsum option in the drawdown phase, any amount above 575000 Euro’s will be subject to Iresh income tax & universal Social Charge (USC) of upto 48%. The marginal rate of income iresh income tax  is currently 20%.

Insurance & pension industry has open up for private players from the year 2000 in India. Now apart from LIC of India, there are currently more than 25 insurers providing different kinds of pension & insurance schemes to suit the client’s requirements. Mainly following are the kinds of pension schemes available,

1)      Immediate annuity scheme

2)      Deferred annuity scheme

3)      Unit linked pension scheme etc

Immediate annuity schemes are the most popular pension scheme in which the member will start receiving pension income as soon as his Ireland pensions transferred to an Immediate annuity scheme in India. The member will receive annuities till he/she is alive & on member’s demise the entire transferred Ireland pension corpus will be passed on to the member’s nominee as a tax free lumpsum.

In the deferred annuity schemes, the member can leave the transferred Ireland pensions to grow tax free till he/she attains retirement age (45-55 years). In India, the growth rate has not been less than 9% since last 8 years. On attaining the retirement age, the member can withdraw 33% of the total grown corpus as a tax free lumpsum & on remaining 67% (2/3^rd)  the member will start taking pension income till his/her life time. On member’s demise, the entire 2/3^rd  Corpus will be passed on to pension member’s  nominee as a tax free lumpsum.

Once Ireland pensions transferred to a pension scheme in India, the member is not liable to pay Ireland taxes like,

Ø  Capital Acquisition tax (CAT)

Ø  Iresh Income  tax

Ø  Universal social charge

Ø  Pension levy etc.,

To know more about the options, pension schemes available in India to get your Ireland pensions transferred, I wish to schedule a free, no obligation telephone consultation to discuss ways I can help yourself and any of your colleagues who has accumulated pension fund in Ireland. I can also be reached with the following contact details.

Mr Ravi Kumar. Financial Consultant (Code: 60272381), Exide Life Insurance Co Ltd. Branch- B 21, # 28, 6th floor, Centenary building, M.G Road, Bangalore-560 001.

Cell:     +919844519872, +919980927393
Email:  ravi.sampige@gmail.com

Tax ruling boost's transferring UK/NHS pensions to a QROPS in India

In a recent ruling by Honorable high court of Delhi states that employee contributions to overseas pensions were not taxable, provided that the employee is not receiving any benefit currently out of the scheme. The relief applies for the savings made for future retirement.

This can be termed as bonus for expats with QROPS living or working in India . This historic case  between Yoshio Kubo and others against the Commissioner of Income-Tax, resulted in giving clarifications for other tax issues for expats in India.

For example, apart from pension decision including QROPS, the following other rulings also included:

Ø  There should be no tax on employer contributions to overseas social security or private medical insurance

Ø  Tax paid by the employer on rent free accommodation is excluded while working out the value of the

Ø  There should be no tax for Hypothetical tax withheld from expat salaries

Ø  Refunds of tax deducted at source should not be taxed

Ø  paying for expat tax returns by employer is not taxed

It was the issue before the court was whether tax borne by employers for expat employees was a non-monetary perquisite – a benefit that should be taxed – and whether employer contributions to overseas social security was taxable

The ruling of the honorable court is termed as historic & landmarking one in the tax law of India. This ruling has a bearing on expat workers and their employer’s wide range of tax issues in India.

“The judgment confirmed the rules that should be applied on three main issues, namely grossing up benefits, taxing employer contributions to offshore social security and hypothetical tax”

The honorable court also digged at other expats pay issues and gave clear rulings on how benefits are taxed in India. This is a favorable move for expat’s in India since India is one of the largest expat destinations in whole Asia.

This landmark ruling aid’s many british expat workers retirement planning in India as they are not liable to pay taxes on any further contributions into their overseas pension funds(QROPS schemes).

No doubt, this also boosts attracting top talents, high skilled expats to the country helping this fast growing economy to grow further fast.

Please contact me for an informal chat about the transfer scheme, finding right QROPS scheme in India to get your UK pensions transferred and Retirement planning with my following Contact details.

Mr Ravi Kumar. Financial Consultant.  Exide Life Insurance Co Ltd

28, 6^th Floor, Centenary Building,  Adjacent to Raheja Towers, M.G Road, Bangalore-560 001.       

Cell: +91 9980927393,  +91 9844519872

Email:  ravi.sampige@gmail.com

Pensions Transfer Process for doctors relocating from Scotland to India. Transfer of Pension Rights from Scotland Public Pension Agency (SPPA) to a QROPS in India.

What is QROPS?

A QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) is a way of moving your Scotland Public Pension Agency(SPPA) pension arrangements to a scheme administered outside the Scotland, which is more flexible & easily accessible for people who have retired abroad or are planning to do so. 

What is Exide Life Golden Years Retirement Plan?(Formerly known as ING Golden Years Retirement Plan).

Exide Life Golden Years Retirement Plan (formerly known as ING Golden Years Retirement Plan) is a non-participating variable Insurance Pension plan allowing for accumulation of premiums until the vesting age. This Plan provides guaranteed benefits on vesting & death. The scheme is also recognized as ‘Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme(QROPS) by HMRC. One can get their SPPA Pensions transferred into the scheme. The transferred Corpus will continue to grow till the vesting age of 55 years. The Existing Exide Life Pension Scheme has delivered Consistent returns by declaring an average compounding returns of 9.65% over last 8 years.

On attaining vesting age of 55 years, the Member can commute the policy & take 1/3^rd of the total grown Corpus as tax free Lumpsum& the remaining 2/3^rd amount can be used to purchase a life annuity from Exide Life Company till the Member’s lifetime. On demise of the Member (before or after vesting age), the Nominee can either choose take pensions or can take the Corpus back as tax free lumpsum.

  

What are the steps involved in the pension transfer?

Step1: Mandate to Scotland Public Pension Agency(SPPA) Scotland, requesting to dispatch CETV to QROPS Scheme Manager.

Step2 : On receipt of set of forms (CETV) from SPPA, the QROPS Scheme Manager will be returning them duly filled with the required details to SPPA authorities.

Step 3: Scotland Public Pension Agence (SPPA) will be transferring the Corpus directly to Exide Life Insurance bank Account through Wire Transfer, under intimation to the client.

Step 4: On receiving the Corpus to ING bank Collection A/c, the bank authorities ask the Scheme Manager  to submit the prescribed Disposal Form giving complete details of the transaction.

Step 5: On Submitting the prescribed Disposal form to the bank, the Forex Department of the bank will convert the Currency at the prevailing Exchange rate as on that day.

Step 6: The receipt for the transferred Corpus after conversion (premium) will be drawn in the Client name from the Accounts Department.

Step 7: Exide Life Golden Years Retirement Policy will be completed instantaneously, which gives the client unabated guaranteed as well as variable benefits as per the features of the policy.

Step 8: Finally the Client will receive a communication from SPPA-Scotland over post confirming the transfer of SPPA pensions to Exide Life Golden Years Retirement Plan.

Case illustration

Client 1: Dr A, 35 year old physician, worked in the Scotland for 7 years as a SHO and a year as a consultant and contributed into the Scotland Public Pension Agency (SPPA)  pensions. He left the Scotland & settled in India for good. Now he was in a quandary as to how to deal with his SPPA pension rights. With his authority, we obtained the relevant information from SPPA Pensions authority and the total amount accumulated was in excess of £80,000. It became apparent considering the impact of tax rules as well as few other important factors which increased the likelihood of a transfer to a QROPS in India being in his best interest. Now we have transferred his amount in INR Rs. 80.20 Lacs in Exide Life  Golden Years Retirement Plan in India, which he can expect to grow at about 7.5% to 8%. At 55 years his corpus is likely to grown to 3.1 Crores. He can take a lump sum of 33% of this amount (Rs.1.02 Crores) as 100% tax free commutation amount and take an approximate pension of Rs. 15 Lacs P/A guaranteed for life on the balance amount of Rs.2.07 Crores. In case of demise of the pension holder, Rs. 2.07 Crores in this case will be given to Nominee which would be 100% Tax free

Client 2: Dr B, 42 year old Pediatrician, worked in Scotland & England and contributed to both NHS pensions in England and in the Scotland Public Pension Agency (SPPA). After leaving the UK, she is working in Singapore and intends to settle down in India after retirement. Dr B wanted to transfer her both NHS & SPPA Pension rights to a QROPS in India. With her authority, we approached both NHS & SPPA & obtained the relevant information from both the agencies and the total amount accumulated was in excess of £1,50,000. On completion of the transfer, we were able to Consolidate Pension rights of both NHSPA & SPPA to one Exide Life Golden Years Retirement Plan.

Client 3: Dr C wants to relocate to India after 3 months, but wanted to take advantage of the ££ value(Current Exchange rate) and opted out of SPPA pension scheme while being in Scotland. With his authority, we initiated Transfer process & successful in transferring his SPPA pension rights to ‘Exide life Golden Years Retirement Plan’ whilst he is in UK and he is able to took advantage of the Current Exchange rate. In addition Dr C is enjoying all the benefits of the scheme that has been illustrated in the above two case studies.

The sequence in brief

1.      I explain the scheme, work out the benefit illustration and answer your queries

2.      Collecting documents, sending by DHL Courier to Scotland, tracking it.

3.      Receipt of forms from Scotland with calculation of corpus amount. I will process them and get them signed by client, send them back to SPPA

4.      Transfer of corpus amount from SPPA to Exide Life Golden Years Retirement plan.

Documents needed

1.      Exide Life application form

2.      Two Passport size colour photos

3.      OCI/PIO Photo copy if you are OCI/PIO Card Holder

4.      Address proof in India (Utility bills/ Bank Statement/ Ration card, Letter from bank etc. If address proof not available in your name, then address proof in the name of Spouse?parents)

5.      A Cheque of Rs 24,000 in favour of 'Exide Life Insurance'. This 24,000 premium can be paid online directly to Exide Life Insurance A/c.

6) Passport photo Copy

  Who am I? 

Let me introduce myself. I am Ravi kumar I have been working as a Financial Consultant for more than 5 years. I have been instrumental in transferring pension for relatively good number of doctors & other professionals who have relocated from Scotland to India & other jurisdictions overseas. I promise to offer quality service & my service covers existing Pensions review, Free QROPS Consultations & Guide, Transfer Recommendation Report and much more.

Please contact me for an informal chat about the transfer scheme with my following Contact details.

Mr Ravi Kumar. Financial Consultant (Code: 60272381), Exide  Life Insurance Co Ltd.

Branch- B 21, # 28, 6th floor, Centenary building, M.G Road, Bangalore-560 001.
Cell:     +91 9844519872, +91 9980927393
Email:  ravi.sampige@gmail.com

India based UK expats located into a Country with no QROPS providers- Third party QROPS is a Solution

Non-resident Indians form one of the largest expatriate populations in the world. About 80% of the Indian expatriate's have savings in an existing UK pension fund but are considering to retire in other countries outside UK including India.   Most of these expats do retire in countries like Singapore etc where there are no QROPS providers.

Around 180 countries are not represented in the global QROPS market place with its over 3000 pension funds giving rise to worries for India based retirement savers who wish to invest. Even though, it looks like disadvantage, actually India based UK expats got much more opportunity than any other UK expats from other nations.

Even though, India based UK expats retires  in a country where QROPS providers is not found, these expats can still invest in QROPS in India. Most of the insurance companies in India offers QROPS products & India based UK expats can transfer their UK pensions & enjoy the benefits of QROPS over UK pensions. The additional requirement for the expats is to fill an additional form known as ‘ PIO/OCI Questionnaire’ (person of Indian origin/Overseas Citizen of India Questionnaire).

The respective insurance company in India grabs some of the important information of the expat’s through this Questionnaire. Some of the important information like their country of citizenship, address in the country of citizenship, social security number (if any), country of residence, passport details& more importantly how the expat relate to India as PIO/OCI etc.

It doesn’t mean that only QROPS available in India is a solution for Indian expatriate’s living in a country where QROPS are not available. Most of the features of QROPS in India do not match the needs of the people of this segment. For instance, once the UK pensions transferred to a QROPS in India, usually the corpus gets locked & the same cannot be moved into another HMRC recognized pension scheme if the Member wishes. The member has to remain with the scheme lifelong and avail pensions from the same Insurance Company on vesting. If any other insurance company pays higher pension rate than the current provider, still the Member got no provision to move his/her corpus & avail the higher benefits since most of the QROPS providers in India got no open market option.

The next best solution for Indian expatriate's is ‘third party’ QROPS.  The popular jurisdictions for third party QROPS are Gibraltar, Malta and the Isle of Man. These jurisdictions got about 300 OFF Shore pensions to select.  The advantage is, once the UK pensions transferred to a third party QROPS the expats can move across the Globe without any obligation to often shift his/her UK pensions whenever they make a move. Because the expats does not have to be the resident of the jurisdiction where QROPS is based.

As for as income tax is concerned is , the same has to be paid where retirement saver lives & not in the centre where QROPS is established. Moreover, the tax liability arises if there is any due. Most of the QROPS schemes make Gross payments & tax is not deducted & transfers the pension benefits in any major currency to the member’s local bank account avoiding the potential exchange rate charges. The most advantage from this third party QROPS is that, even though the expat has not yet decided where exactly to retire, still this option  gives relief to take decision on their own time and at the same time offer peace of mind that retirement savings are not diminishing due to a string of early exit transfer fees.

A good independent financial advisor can advise you the right QROPS (both in India & OFF Shore) & Jurisdiction to get your UK Pensions transferred.

Please contact me for an informal chat about the transfer scheme with my following Contact details.

Mr Ravi Kumar. Financial Consultant.  Exide Life Insurance Co Ltd

28, 6^th Floor, Centenary Building,  Adjacent to Raheja Towers, M.G Road, Bangalore-560 001.       

Cell: +91 9980927393,  +91 9844519872

Email:  ravi.sampige@gmail.com

UK Consultation office :

QROPS Advice

Global Administration office)

14-18 Heddon Street, Mayfair

London-W1B 4DA UK

Email: ravi@qrops-advice.net

India based UK expats should pool UK pensions into One QROPS in India or Overseas

It is good to consolidate UK pensions into one ‘Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme(QROPS) that are scattered among different UK pension schemes. Consolidating UK pensions into one QROPS is cost effective step for India based UK expats.

Most of the India based UK expats often changes the companies in search of better opportunities leaving small pension pots behind. If a pension account not receiving regular contributions then it often results in higher administration costs from pension scheme providers than an active scheme with regular contributions.

In most of the cases, the ten or more year old pension schemes face higher charges than revised modern schemes. It is also time consuming to track the status of the pension schemes across different providers.  So it is advisable to consolidate all the pension schemes into one QROPS. The funds will lie under single account. It saves the time & easy to manage investments if the same is linked to one account.

According to the recent surveys conducted by prominent organizations like prudential that about 25% of the retirement savers got no idea what they would have accumulated in their pension pot. This fact putting them away from making sensible decisions about their savings.

Eventhough the consolidation of pension funds is sensible decision, the retirement savers must know the fact that not every overseas pension scheme is suitable to transfer.

For an information, State pensions cannot be transferred to a QROPS. It is not advisable to get workplace pensions transferred to a QROPS, since Workplace pensions give benefits that are not available with QROPS, so it’s not cost effective to make transfer arrangements. Whatever the pension fund size, it doesn’t matter. Different QROPS providers got their own set of rules about minimum fund sizes. Ultimately, the total pot transferred & consolidated gets counted.

It makes sense in consolidating the pension pots into a QROPS considering the charges draining cash from retirement savings. It doesn’t mean that QROPS providers will cost you nothing. But it is not difficult to find a QROPS with reasonable fee structure. There are about 3000 QROPS across 46 jurisdictions as product as well as jurisdiction options for India based UK expats.

A good Independent financial Advisor can advise with an illustration of why shifting a pension fund is a good idea for many retirement savers.

Please contact me for an informal chat about the transfer scheme with my following Contact details.

Mr Ravi Kumar. Financial Consultant.  Exide Life Insurance Co Ltd

28, 6^th Floor, Centenary Building,  Adjacent to Raheja Towers, M.G Road, Bangalore-560 001.       

Cell: +91 9980927393,  +91 9844519872

Email:  ravi.sampige@gmail.com

UK Consultation office :

QROPS Advice

Global Administration office)

14-18 Heddon Street, Mayfair

London-W1B 4DA UK

Email: ravi@qrops-advice.net