Transfer of Occupational Pension From Holland to UK

[shetland]

My wife is a Dutch national who has lived in the UK for 41 years. Prior to coming she had a few years in an occupational pension scheme in Holland which is due in Dec 2019. The pension is fairly small, a few hundred euros a month, and we wondered if it could be transferred into her SIPP. Anyone have any knowledge of this please.

[DrBunsenHoneydew]

My wife is a Dutch national who has lived in the UK for 41 years. Prior to coming she had a few years in an occupational pension scheme in Holland which is due in Dec 2019. The pension is fairly small, a few hundred euros a month, and we wondered if it could be transferred into her SIPP. Anyone have any knowledge of this please.

Yes that's generally entirely possible if the receiving SIPP permits - contact them to check.

Here's something by the Royal London for example:
https://adviser.royallondon.com/technical-central/pensions/transfers/overseas-transfers/

Transfers from overseas schemes

In this case, a transfer is coming from a pension scheme which is not regulated and taxed by HMRC to one that is. Almost all pension transfers from overseas pension schemes to UK registered pension schemes are allowable and treated in a similar way to recognised transfers. However, a registered pension scheme isn't obliged to accept the transfer.

Overseas transfers into registered pension schemes aren't recognised transfers. However they aren't unauthorised payments either as unauthorised payments can only come from UK registered pension schemes. The transfer doesn't count as a contribution and therefore doesn't get tax relief and doesn't count against the annual allowance. It's also not a benefit crystallisation event (BCE), and doesn't trigger a test against the lifetime allowance at time of transfer. However, it will count against the lifetime allowance when a BCE does occur.

If the transfer is from a recognised overseas pension scheme, the member's lifetime allowance can be enhanced by the same percentage as the transfer value bears to the standard lifetime allowance at time of transfer. So if John has a transfer of £100,000 from a recognised overseas pension scheme during 2017/18, his personal lifetime allowance will be 10% higher than the standard lifetime allowance (£100,000/£1,000,000). This recognises the fact that the transferred funds haven't received any tax advantages from HMRC. A member has up to five years from 31 January following the tax year in which the transfer is made to claim this enhancement by registering it with HMRC. So John has until 31 January 2024 to register his claim to an enhancement to his lifetime allowance. It's important to note that this enhancement is only available if the transfer is from a recognised overseas pension scheme - if it is not a recognised scheme, the enhancement can't be claimed.

[shetland]

Thank you for your reply. I assume that once in the Sipp my wife would be able to take 25% tax free.

[parallellines]

That's the answer from the Uk side of the transfer. For a complete answer the willingness and legal ability of the Dutch provider to pay a transfer needs to be considered. You'll be very fortunate if you find a user of this board with the relevant knowledge.