UK Pensions

It is possible to transfer UK pensions into the offshore arena, as long as the new scheme is acceptable to the Inland Revenue, but each case needs to be assessed on it’s individual merits to see if it is worthwhile and cost-effective.

Most UK pensions can be elected to have tax deducted in France (the main exception being civil servant pensions).

If you are resident in France or another country, for tax purposes, then you are not able to contribute to a UK pension and should continue your retirement planning in your country of residence. The pension fund will not be lost; proceeds can be taken at the normal retirement date.

The UK state pension will be paid as normal. However, residents of certain non-EU countries will have their pensions frozen instead of being indexed. If you think this might be the case then it is necessary to take action in advance by establishing other sources of income in retirement. If you wish to find out if your state pension would suffer from this rule then please ask for information.