Pension saving while working abroad

engineerabroad

Hi,

Anyone with any advice/experience of working abroad and saving into a pension (not retiring abroad)?

Basically I will be working on a 4 year contract in a non-EU country and will be able to save about 1k a month for pension contributions. As far as I can tell I can still contribute into a UK pension scheme but may not get tax relief (that bits a bit fuzzy). I have a private pension scheme I can pay into, but would it be better to save/invest the 1k per month and put into a scheme as a lump sum when I return to the UK?

Any advice gratefully received!

atush

Pensions are a tax wrapper, so if you arent paying tax, there is no reason to use a pension. And you c ant get TR.

You could just invest thru a broker that accepts non eu residents. Try Barclays or HSBC if they have a banking presence in your country of residence. Or try HL. Or an online broker operating in the country of residence.

However, if you are still resident and leaving soon, I think the rules are you can put in up to 2800/yr or 3600 with TR for the first few years after you leave? Someone here will know the exact rules.

xylophone

http://www.aviva-for-advisers.co.uk/site/public/tech-centre/tech-article-detail/overseas-opportunities-for-personal-pension-members

http://www.pruadviser.co.uk/content/nav/about/26674/pghome/49880/52677/52680/52701/52713/

may be worth a look.

JasonPr

atush wrote: »

However, if you are still resident and leaving soon, I think the rules are you can put in up to 2800/yr or 3600 with TR for the first few years after you leave? Someone here will know the exact rules.

This is correct. As as a new UK non-resident, you can make contributions of £2,880 for several tax years and the government will add £720 for free in "tax relief", even though you're no longer paying any tax.

The relevant link is here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/rpsmmanual/RPSM05101170.htm

I don't think it makes sense to contribute to a UK pension beyond that amount since you wouldn't get any tax relief.

JasonPr

And I know this wasn't your original question, but I suggest you take a look at the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) if you haven't already: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... e-test-srt

Since you left the UK to work overseas, you have to do daily record keeping in order to show you became UK non-resident.

engineerabroad

atush wrote: »

Pensions are a tax wrapper, so if you arent paying tax, there is no reason to use a pension. And you c ant get TR.

You could just invest thru a broker that accepts non eu residents. Try Barclays or HSBC if they have a banking presence in your country of residence. Or try HL. Or an online broker operating in the country of residence.

However, if you are still resident and leaving soon, I think the rules are you can put in up to 2800/yr or 3600 with TR for the first few years after you leave? Someone here will know the exact rules.

Ah, ok makes more sense, I'm already abroad on hypo tax and been paying into company scheme and NI, so i'll look into the broker route. Many thanks.

engineerabroad

xylophone wrote: »

[.......

may be worth a look.

interesting reading, thanks.

engineerabroad

JasonPr wrote: »

This is correct. As as a new UK non-resident, you can make contributions of £2,880 for several tax years and the government will add £720 for free in "tax relief", even though you're no longer paying any tax.

The relevant link is here: ....

I don't think it makes sense to contribute to a UK pension beyond that amount since you wouldn't get any tax relief.

Very useful, many thanks.