UK Pensions

You can transfer virtually all UK pension funds to Australia with the exception of the state pension.

Besides the family home, your pension fund is possibly the most valuable asset you own.  You wouldn’t dream of leaving the UK without ensuring that your home is either sold or rented out.  And yet thousands of people leave the UK each year and forget about the pension fund they spent years building up.

Australia offers extremely favourable tax treatment to retired individuals who have transferred their funds to Australia.  If you do not transfer your UK pension fund, your UK pension will be taxable in Australia.

In addition any remaining pension fund can be passed on, in full, to relatives or other nominated beneficiaries on your death and your income in retirement will not be subject to exchange rate uncertainties.

To avoid an Australian tax charge arising on the transfer, it is generally necessary to complete the transfer within 6 months of arrival or while you are a temporary visa holder.  However the tax charges after this period may not be as high as you expect.  We will calculate the tax liability for you and arrange for this to be paid by your superannuation fund if this is beneficial.

Once you have started to receive your UK pension it is usually too late to transfer your pension fund.  Your UK pension will therefore be subject to Australian tax.  So ACT NOW - you could save yourself thousands of $$ in unnecessary tax.

Form of Authority (654 KB)

If you’ve left the UK following employment it does not mean you lose your entitlement to receiving the UK State Pension when you reach statutory retirement age.

Entitlement is not based on your nationality; it is based on whether you worked in the UK and made National Insurance contributions. You need 30 years of contributions to be entitled to the full UK State Pension.

If you’ve moved to Australia you can in many cases make ‘top up’ contributions to maximise your entitlement.

We can assist you with the top up process and in many cases ensure any contributions you need to make are at the most economical rate for you, rather than at the rate offered by HMRC. This can potentially save you several hundreds of pounds.

UK State Pension Terms of Engagement and Cost Agreement (146 KB)