The company said it has had to take this decision, which will not affect current members of the scheme, as the Isle of Man government has not yet put in place a new 50C pension framework which is compliant with the new HM Revenue & Customs legislation.
The Boal & Co. Trinity scheme is one of only a few QROPS domiciled in the Isle of Man which will be non-compliant post 5 April 2012.
According to a FAQ document issued by the company, around 95% of schemes in the Isle of Man are structured under different sections of the island’s pension legislation and will be unaffected – this includes a number of schemes run by Boal & Co.
Boal & Co. also explained that the reason the scheme will not comply after 5 April 2012, when the new legislation comes into effect, is because it will fail the newly introduced “benefits exemption test” which essentially means tax treatment of the pension must be the same for resident and non-resident members of the scheme.
However, the company said in the meantime clients can use its other Isle of Man-based QROPS or indeed its Guernsey-based QROPS, Synergy, which will be registered under the section 157e legislation Guernsey has introduced to meet the same new legislation.
Managing director Gary Boal said: “The key message for members of the Trinity scheme is that they will not be affected by this at all as HMRC have stated very clearly that transfers made to any scheme which fails to meet the QROPS criteria after the 5 April, will continue to be recognised transfers.
“Boal & Co. is committed to bringing this product back online as soon as the Isle of Man authorities have put in place compliant legislation and it is disappointing that this has not already happened.”
