Irish pension transfer to UK

OliverNW3

Hi

I have a small pension pot with Irish Life, I think it's valued around €17k if I withdraw.

I now live in London and consider it a permanent move. I'm Irish but intend on keeping working in London and eventually buying property here. I am 34, and don't have a huge amount in savings (roughly £26k). Since starting working here last year, I have a very small pension pot with Scottish Widows, under £3k, and I am planning on increasing my contributions and asking my employer if they will do likewise.

So, I'm wondering what I could do with the pension that I have in Ireland. Does anyone know if I can withdraw it and transfer straight to Scottish Widows? Or withdraw it and invest in an S&S ISA? Any thoughts?

bostonerimus

There might be some special rules betweeen the U.K. and The Irish Republic, but generally cross border pension transfers aren’t possible. The usual advice is to leave the pension where it is and check the tax treaty to see how it is handled for cross border taxes.

xylophone

According to Aegon https://www.aegon.co.uk/support/faq/pension-technical/Overseas-transfers-in.html

It’s possible for a transfer from an overseas pension scheme to be made into a UK pension arrangement, although it’s worth pointing out that some UK schemes will only accept transfers from overseas schemes if they are recognised overseas pension schemes (ROPS). If that’s the case, the receiving UK scheme should just need confirmation that the transfer is coming from a ROPS. There is no need to provide any additional evidence such as a copy of the transferring scheme’s rules. The transferring overseas scheme has to meet the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) definition for a ROPS and it’s the responsibility of the transferring scheme to confirm that their scheme meets this definition.

Enquire of Scottish Widows whether a transfer in would be accepted.

Brynsam

Surely the starting point is to ask both Irish Life and Scottish Widows what your options are in terms of transferring out from the former/transferring in to the latter?

nigelbb

Considering the way that the pound is plummeting versus the Euro you might be better off leaving it where it is & in the fullness of time drawing your pension in Euros.