Irish Pension Transfers
    – Avoiding the New 0.6% pa Levy

The new Irish pensions levy (starting initially at 0.6% pa on pension fund assets) announced in May 2011, retrospective to 1 January 2011, is targeted to raise €450m for the Irish Revenue Commissioners, every year, for at least the 4-year period 2011-2014.  The levy applies to individual pension policies (“retirement annuity contracts”), company pension schemes, personal retirement bonds, (non-vested) PRSAs and buy-out bonds.
 
Irish residents with larger pension funds should be aware of The Occupational Pensions Schemes and PRSA (Overseas Transfer Payments) Regulations, 2003 (SI 716/2003) which permit a transfer value to be paid to an overseas pension arrangement, subject to certain conditions.  Overseas pension schemes are not subject to the levy.  The conditions for transfer to an overseas arrangement are:

• the Irish trustees/provider have satisfied themselves that the retirement benefits to be provided under the overseas arrangement are retirement benefits, by obtaining written confirmation to that effect from the trustees, custodians, managers or administrators of the overseas arrangement to which the transfer is to be made; and
• the Irish trustees/provider have satisfied themselves that the overseas arrangement has been approved by an appropriate regulatory authority for the country concerned.

Boal & Co are firm of international actuaries and consultants, with a leading presence as professionals in the overseas pension transfer business.  We administer a range of bona fide offshore pension scheme solutions designed to facilitate overseas pension transfers.  Our latest transfer scheme “Trinity” is a scheme approved under s50C of the Isle of Man Income Tax 1970, and regulated by the Isle of Man Insurance & Pensions Authority as a registered pension scheme.

Pension transfer is not something which should be undertaken lightly.  There may be other fiscal complications about transferring retirement benefits overseas that need to be considered before embarking on such a transfer. Appropriate professional taxation advice should therefore be sought before considering any such transfer.  Please note that Boal & Co do not provide investment advice or taxation advice.