HMRC’s updated list, published on Tuesday, reveals that Australia has now added the P Wyns Age 55 Super Fund (SMSF) to its list, increasing the numbers from one to two schemes.
On 1 July, the UK tax office culled 3,137 QROPS from its approved list, leaving only 663 standing. Australia fared the worst of all the countries, falling from 1,600 to only one, the Local Government Superannuation Scheme.
South Africa has also seen a rise in the number of QROPS on the HMRC list, increasing to 11 from seven. Spain increased the number of schemes to three from two.
Steady rise
The addition of the Australian personal pension scheme, Wyns Superfund, will encourage other individuals to set up their own self-managed super fund, said director of Global QROPS Paul Davies.
He said this kind of solution means individuals are only entitled to set up a self-managed super fund if they are aged 55 or over, as they already meet QROPS criteria.
“This is good news for people who are migrating to Australia because there is now an avenue to transfer their funds directly to the country,” said Davies.
“Now it has been tested and approved by HMRC, I expect by the end of the year there will be dozens more included on the list.”
Senior industry figures suspected HMRC removed schemes from the list because many allowed policyholders to withdraw funds before the age of 55 if they faced “serious financial hardship”, a rule which does not comply with UK pension requirements.
New option
Australian super fund providers are currently discussing with the Australian Treasury how they can work-out a solution which will allow schemes to meet the QROPS criteria.
Davies said many thought setting up a self-managed super fund was an option that looked closed. However, now advisers in Australia should be able to help individuals set up a personal scheme under the policyholder’s name.
“The positive message is it’s now possible,” Davies said. He added that, while setting up a personal pension is more expensive than a retail fund, “it’s preferable to not having an option at all”.
In June, experts predicted that HMRC was planning to drop nearly all Australian QROPS from the list.
