In 2009 the brakes were put on transfers into the British Overseas Territory after HM Revenue and Customs raised concerns about its 0% income tax charge on pension income for the over 60s.
However, when a new government was elected in March last year, plans to resurrect the industry were put into motion led by Gibraltar’s newly appointed minister for financial services, Gilbert Licudi.
Licudi’s first success came in June when the Gibraltar Parliament approved two amendments to its tax regime which, at the time, were believed to “satisfy the concerns of Britain’s tax authorities”. The most important of the two amendments was one which mandates that all benefits paid by “certain imported pensions” are to be taxed at a rate of 2.5%.
In September, the government finally announced that it had received confirmation from HMRC that it was happy for the jurisdiction to begin accepting transfers-in of pension schemes again.
