ISA, Pension and UK banking when moving abroad

amark16

Hi all
We are planning a move from the UK to Cyprus later this year and I'm trying to figure out the best ways to handle my ISAs, Pensions and UK bank accounts. I am 34yo, the move is considered permanent, but cannot rule out returning to the UK medium-long term. I have the following questions:

1. I understand that it is possible to keep my ISAs, but will not be able to contribute any more to them. I have a stocks and shares ISA and a regular ISA for my wife. Is it better to keep them in the UK or consider moving them to Cyprus or other EU country (given the current exchange rate)? I would like to be able to keep adding to them, and perhaps find a European fund supermarket to invest them in. Does anyone have any experience with this?
2. My pension pot is fairly low, around 20K. What are my options with it? Should I move it (if I can) or leave it be?
3. We are planning to rent out our home in the UK. Given that we will have no other income here, will I have to pay any tax if the total yearly is below the annual allowance (11k i think). Will I have to fill out a tax return from abroad?
4. I have current accounts with Barclays and Tesco and would like to keep at least one of them for rental income to go in, and pay life insurance premiums. Is it possible to keep them open if moving abroad?

thanks!

eskbanker

1. You won't be able to move ISAs as such but you should be able to transfer the underlying investments to investment accounts in Cyprus, even if this involves sale and repurchase.
2. You wouldn't be forced to do anything with your pension as a result of moving.
3. Assuming you'll be tax-resident in Cyprus then you'll have to follow their tax regime rather than the UK's, i.e. you'll have to declare your UK earnings to the Cypriot equivalent of HMRC. You won't have a UK tax allowance as such (or any need to complete a UK tax return) once you're no longer tax-resident here.
4. You'd need to check with Barclays and Tesco if they allow operation from abroad - some banks will allow the registered address to be a foreign one.

You might want to spend some time researching such issues at the likes of http://www.expatforum.com/expats/cyprus-expat-forum-expats-living-cyprus/