Montfort International are exhibiting at the Down Under Live events. Come and meet our team on Stand 32 at the Edinburgh Show this weekend, where you can find out more about the issues regarding pensions, the changes to QROPS, property, tax and various other financial, tax and currency issues.

We have tickets to give away to the first 50 people who contact us. All you need to do is provide some basic information about yourself and if you are lucky we can arrange free entry to the show for you.Many thanks to John Weir and the Down Under Live Management Team for helping us with this promotion. It will be a fantastic event and we look forward to meeting and speaking to you all about emigrating down under and QROPS.

Down Under Live, jobs and emigration expo for Australia and New Zealand

www.downunderlive.co.uk

Emigrate to Australia or New Zealand. Immigration advice, jobs, visa assessments

We have tickets to give away to the first 50 people who contact us. All you need to do is provide some basic information about yourself and if you are lucky we can arrange free entry to the show for you.

Many thanks to John Weir and the Down Under Live Management Team for helping us with this promotion. It is looking like it will be a fantastic event and we look forward to meeting and speaking to you all.

His qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Queensland, the Advanced Diploma of Financial Services (Financial Planning) in Australia, and the Diploma in Financial Planning through the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) in the United Kingdom where he has already achieved the ‘Level 4’ requirement to be implemented at the start of 2013.

Matthew’s expertise includes global business and personal financial planning, banking, finance and lending, cash flow management, risk insurance, wealth protection, United Kingdom pension planning, global wealth accumulation and retirement strategies, and estate planning.

He is dedicated to fulfilling all of his client’s financial objectives before, during, and following their re-location from the United Kingdom with a high standard of service and customised strategies/advice.

Matthew is committed to adding real value and building long term relationships with clients given his global background where he has developed an extensive network of contacts in related fields such as accounting services, Visa requirements, travel options, global employment opportunities, and destination financial planning advice.

Having personally re-located overseas, Matthew has first hand appreciation of the excitement, concerns, and stress of looking to move abroad and is only too happy to impart his own experiences of what to and not to do.

The objective of this measure is to ensure a fairer tax system and to ensure that the QROPS system continues to be used for its intended purpose. There have been reports that QROPS has been subject to misuse.

 Summary of the proposed revisions:

 1)       Secondary legislation will be introduced to revise the conditions that a scheme must meet to be a QROPS

2)       Introduce an acknowledgement by the individual, to be completed before a transfer is made, and tax charges may apply

3)       Introduce revised time limits for registered pension schemes to report transfers to QROPS

4)       Provide additional powers for HMRC to request information from a scheme manager of a QROPS

5)       Revise the time limits for the reporting of payments by a QROPS to HMRC

Geraint Davies, Managing Director or Montfort International Ltd and Offshore QROPS (a leading QROPS adviser) said that, ‘Montfort International has already put together thoughts that will be submitted to HMRC as part of the consultation process’

HMRC’s detailed QROPS proposal can be viewed at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/tiin/tiin650.pdf

Montfort International Ltd / Offshore QROPS are considered leading QROPS advisers. If you are planning on moving overseas, or are already a UK expatriate and would like advice into the options you have available, or how these proposed changes may affect you, please do not hesitate to contact our team on 00 44 (1)483 202072.

With a growing population and many going to Australia to retire, it seems that having more people withdrawing money then money being put in through employment is becoming an issue that may see supers start to limit the amount that can be withdrawn. Hopefully it won’t go into a situation like the UK where you are made to take a 25% pension lump sum with the remaining amount taken as a regular payment.

The importance of QROPS in other jurisdictions then becomes more important for those looking to retire younger and with greater flexibility as the Australian market looks to tighten its grip on its generous retirement facilities.

The FSA have made a clear warning that if you deal with this company and anything goes wrong, you cannot complain to the FSA as they are not a UK regulated company, even though they are only marketing to UK clients.

The full warning can be seen here.

This is not likely to be the only company out there that is looking to provide quick cash, in return for people’s pension benefits.

If you are in any doubt, then you should consult Montfort International regarding any issues that you have with regards to your pension and moving abroad.

The timing of your pension and investments is therefore vital, something that we give advice on at Montfort International.

The current property market in the UK at present is weak and many are finding it hard to match their asking price for their properties prior to leaving. They then look at the alternative of renting the property out. If you do rent the property out then you will have to fill in the Non-residents Landlords abroad scheme form which would need to be lodged with the HMRC which allows you to receive income without any withholding tax.

There is no capital gains as such in New Zealand but after the four year exemption there is a charge on realised and non-realised gains on any overseas investments which can also include gains on foreign exchange – which is similar to the rules in Australia.

The difference between Australia and New Zealand is very apparent; New Zealand wants to attract people with a lenient tax system where they can have four years exemption in which to sort their finances out. Australia on the other hand is far more restrictive to their leniency with regards to permanent residents who are taxed from the moment their residency begins. The specifics of how it works is what Montfort can help you with and work your finances in order to minimize tax and maximize efficiency of transfer.

If you would like to know more about the various financial opportunities open to you, please email info@miplc.co.uk or call us on 01483 202072.

The issue for prospective migrants:

So what if the market is going up and down, I don’t have any stocks and shares anyway –  think again, you will more then likely have a pension fund lying dormant or you are currently paying into a pension pot that normally is invested directly or indirectly in stocks and shares.

For those of you in final salary pension schemes the Company and scheme trustees may have to review the transfer values available in these trading conditions, therefore it is important you are aware of the benefits available. Always take the opportunity to read through your annual benefits statement and look at the funding position of your pension scheme, and recent scheme valuation. Is this in surplus, or deficit?

The government does have in place the “Pension Protection Fund” that is there to protect those who have final salary benefits (other than statutory schemes, e.g. NHS) but for many, this is a major factor that you must look at when considering looking to transfer your pensions to New Zealand or Australia.

If you are concerned about your retirement benefits and how best to utilize these with regards to your migration then Montfort International Ltd is at hand to help you with all your queries. We have a number of solutions in place that will enable you to maximise your benefits when you migrate.

It is not surprising that many have held back on gifting assets when they know they can face no tax bill by making the gift after the 1^st October – huge tax savings can be made by doing this.

The reason for the abolition was due to the fact that the NZ government was spending more money trying to get the taxes in than they actually were making. A cost effective decision for the government but a bitter blow for all those accountants and lawyers that have now lost part of their income stream.

The abolition is really putting New Zealand on the map for financial hubs to go to for migrants as they offer a number of attractive tax breaks. The main one being for those who are new to the country or have been outside it for 10 years can benefit from a tax exemption on foreign assets for 49 months before being subject to taxation.

The ruling comes at a time when the HMRC have been making many revisions to what would constitute UK domicile and will surely have an impact on any policy that is subsequently brought out in the coming months.

The fact that Robert Gaines-Cooper thought that he was a non-UK domicile as he spent no more then 91 days in any year within the UK goes to show that more is taken into account than a simple formula on how long you can stay in the country for. The ruling has taken into account that he had sufficient ties in the UK which the High Court ruled to be correct and means that Gaines-Cooper is due to pay taxes stretching back to 1976.

This presents problems for those who thought that they had broke UK domicile as this will allow the HMRC to pursue thousands of British tax exiles that may have been thinking that there liability to the UK was no more.

The new rules look to tighten the UK’s grip on those wanting to break domicile with relative ease and make it more clear cut what will constitute a non-dom compared to a domiciled case.

For example the new proposed rules state you are not resident in the UK for a tax year if:

• you were not resident in the UK in all of the previous three tax years and you are present in the UK for fewer than 45 days in the current tax year; or
• you were resident in the UK in one or more of the previous three tax years and you are present in the UK for fewer than 10 days in the current tax year; or
• you leave the UK to carry out full-time work abroad, provided you are present in the UK for fewer than 90 days in the tax year and no more than 20 days are spent working in the UK in the tax year.

The Gaines-Cooper case shows that even meeting these new proposed rules does not necessarily mean that you are safe from the HMRC – an area for all those who have left the UK who are in any doubt of their domicile status to urgently review.