An NT (No Tax) code is granted to individuals who receive UK-sourced income and reside in a country that has a double taxation agreement (DTA) with the UK. [Note, for expats in Europe these rules still apply after Brexit, as these tax treaties were made outside of EU legislation.] The code allows you to receive UK pension income, without having tax deducted at source.
It is common for those reaching age 55 to withdraw the maximum 25 per cent tax-free cash lump sum from their pension. Many do so in order to splurge on the holiday of a lifetime, make home improvements, pay off a mortgage or help out children or grandchildren. However, the question should be asked: would people be better off leaving that money invested and withdrawing their pension gradually over a longer period instead? Here are 4 instances where the answer…
In the past decade, huge numbers of people have transferred their final salary/defined benefit pensions to a SIPP or QROPS as Cash Equivalent Transfer Values have soared. However, since the start of 2022, these valuations have started to fall back and I have had numerous enquiries from people wanting to know why their pension transfer value has dropped. In this post, we will look at the nuts and bolts of how a defined benefit pension cash transfer value is calculated.
Prior to April 2015, retirement options for those who had a personal pension or self-invested personal pension (SIPP) were fairly limited. You were able to take a pension commencement lump sum equivalent to 25% of your pension fund, which was tax-free, and the rest had to be used to purchase an annuity that would provide you with a set income for life. However, since then the rules have changed and there is now a lot more flexibility if you have…