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QNUPS are particularly attractive to UK domiciles who wish to create overseas pensions with a potentially varied range of assets.
Commercial property can be considered for inclusion and any accepted assets are immediately put outside of the members estate.
A QNUPS is an unapproved non-UK pension scheme. This does not mean that QNUPS are not recognised by HMRC; they are in fact defined by UK legislation and a UK taxation treatment of these schemes has been set out by law.
Unapproved instead means that the usual taxation benefits attached to approved pension schemes are not in place. For example, contributions to approved UK pensions are subject to tax relief while contributions to QNUPS are not. The positive side to being unapproved (and the side that would make someone interested in investing in a QNUPS) is that there are no limits on the contributions that can be made, and very little limitation on what investments the QNUPS can make.
There are some rules that apply such as income must be started to be taken at 75 and it is typically attached to GAD rates.
Assets may not have to be liquidated before transferring them to a QNUPS (this is more an advantage than a restriction).
Almost any asset class can be transferred to a QNUPS – including ‘alternative investments’, such as antiques, residential property and fine wine.
Any maximum age for establishing or drawing down from a QNUPS depends on the jurisdiction of the QNUPS.
A QNUPS is exempt from UK taxes on death, unless the QNUPS member is deemed to have deliberately reduced the value of their estate immediately before death by transferring a significant part of their estate to the QNUPS.
There is currently no limit on contributions. However, HMRC is increasingly looking at offshore structures, so it’s best to restrict overall contributions to a proportion of your net worth – for example, 50%.
Potentially there is no maximum age limit for when you can invest into a QNUPS – but it depends on the jurisdiction of the QNUPS.
There are no lifetime limits on fund size.
100% of the QNUPS fund is transferable to beneficiaries.
investments’, such as antiques, residential property and fine wine.
Any maximum age for establishing or drawing down from a QNUPS depends on the jurisdiction of the QNUPS.
This is a fairly complex area of financial planning so if anything here resonates with you we should sit down for a full consultatory meeting