What do you do with pension IF you emigrate

longwalks1

I'm years away from retiring but was wondering, what happens to your private/personal pension should you choose to permanently live elsewhere in Europe, or even further afield?  Does it remain with the UK provider and you draw it in the country you live, or if it was a permanent relocation (i.e no intention of returning to the UK) would it need to be/by choice transfer it to your new country of residence?

If it varies from country to country, lets say Spain and S.E. asia for example.  I'm not planning to yet, just inquisitive on how it works

JoeCrystal

It still stays within the UK. However, its tax treatment varies depending on the countries you are a resident of and the double tax treaties, if any. It would be best if you did more research on your case. Your question is just too vague, and too many factors affect the answer to the question anyway.

Marcon

longwalks1 said:

I'm years away from retiring but was wondering, what happens to your private/personal pension should you choose to permanently live elsewhere in Europe, or even further afield?  Does it remain with the UK provider and you draw it in the country you live, or if it was a permanent relocation (i.e no intention of returning to the UK) would it need to be/by choice transfer it to your new country of residence?

Yes, unless you transfer it to the country where you are living. You would only be able to do that if the country in question is on HMRC's list of 'recognised providers' (see below).

longwalks1 said:

If it varies from country to country, lets say Spain and S.E. asia for example.  I'm not planning to yet, just inquisitive on how it works

Depends on whether the country you are living in has pension schemes which HMRC regards as an acceptable home for your UK private pension. More info: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-the-recognised-overseas-pension-schemes-notification-list

Pat38493

Marcon said:

longwalks1 said:

I'm years away from retiring but was wondering, what happens to your private/personal pension should you choose to permanently live elsewhere in Europe, or even further afield?  Does it remain with the UK provider and you draw it in the country you live, or if it was a permanent relocation (i.e no intention of returning to the UK) would it need to be/by choice transfer it to your new country of residence?

Yes, unless you transfer it to the country where you are living. You would only be able to do that if the country in question is on HMRC's list of 'recognised providers' (see below).

longwalks1 said:

If it varies from country to country, lets say Spain and S.E. asia for example.  I'm not planning to yet, just inquisitive on how it works

Depends on whether the country you are living in has pension schemes which HMRC regards as an acceptable home for your UK private pension. More info: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-the-recognised-overseas-pension-schemes-notification-list

Does this effectively mean that if a country you want to move to is mentioned in those lists, it means you can move your pension to that country without any immediate tax consequences in the UK, as long as you pick one of the listed providers?

Following on then, does this mean that potentially you could move to one country e.g. Ireland, and then you would be under Ireland's rules, so later on you could move your pension to another country from Ireland that might not be possible from the UK directly?

On the other hand if the country is not mentioned, you can't move your pension there without incurring immediate tax charges in the UK?