Available at petition.parliament.uk, it states that expats have to pay the charge on moving pensions from the UK to a Qrops or between Qrops unless they live in Europe or one of 13 countries outside Europe that have such schemes.
William Wilson, who created the petition, wrote that it “is unfair to the thousands who cannot access a Qrops pension where they live”.
No further details are currently available about Wilson or what prompted him to launch the petition on 19 January 2018, nearly a year after the charge was first announced.
Qrops shock
The 25% levy on Qrops transfers to non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries was announced at the March 2017 Spring Budget.
Industry had no notice that the charge was to be implemented, let alone with immediate effect.
The only exception is if the pension is transferred to a non-EEA country in which the owner subsequently lives for at least five years, for example Australia.
However, if the person moves to another non-EEA country before the five years has lapsed, say the Philippines, the charge would be applied retroactively.
Exit tax
Wilson wrote: “The overseas transfer charge discriminates against expats outside the EEA in a country which does not host a Qrops, making them pay a 25% exit tax on moving their pension fund from the UK to a Qrops to gain better financial terms.
“The charge is unreasonable as the rules punish Qrops members for financial planning when savers with other pensions, like self-invested personal pensions (Sipp), can live in the same place as a Qrops saver and suffer no transfer charge on moving their fund.”
10,000 signatures
In order to get the UK Government to respond to the petition, it must reach 10,000 signatures before 19 July 2018.
To be debated in parliament, the petition requires at least 100,000 signatures.
As of Monday, it has 21.
