Retirement

Slovakia Disappears From HMRC QROPS List

Slovakia Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) are missing from the latest HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) list of the offshore pensions for expats.

Slovakia is a small and one of the least popular destinations for retirement savers.

The country had four pensions for British expats and international workers with UK pension rights on HMRC’s last QROPS list – all run by a 100% owned subsidiary of the Tatra Bank.

The subsidiary was found on April 10, 2006, partly to allow pension investors to benefit from QROPS, which started four days previously, on April 6, 2006.

HMRC declines to comment on the reason why Slovakia is not on the latest QROPS list.

“We do not comment on individual jurisdictions or schemes,” said an HMRC spokesman. “But I can confirm that Slovakia is not missing from the list in error to the best of my knowledge.”

Third delisted QROPS jurisdiction

Tatra Bank’s Marina Smolkova was unaware of any reason for the removal of the QROPS .

Slovakia is the third jurisdiction to delist – Singapore and more recently, Cyprus in 2012, are the only other nations to lose their status and neither has been reinstated to date.

Elsewhere in the world, this month, 2,895 QROPS pensions across 46 countries are listed by HMRC – an increase of 35 schemes across 47 countries from January 15.

The largest increase in QROPS pensions was in Australia – with an increase of 28 pensions to a total of 1,072 from 1,044.

Ireland saw an increase of four QROPS, to 686; the Isle of Man three to 212; while Gibraltar (14) and Malta (11) saw one new scheme open each.

One QROPS closed in the USA.

The full list country-by-country is:

CountryScheme Count
Australia1072
Austria9
Bangladesh1
Barbados4
Belgium22
Bulgaria3
Canada98
Czech Republic4
Denmark8
European Union1
Finland4
France39
Germany53
Gibraltar14
Greece1
Guernsey37
Hong Kong25
Hungary1
Iceland3
India18
Ireland686
Isle of Man212
Italy42
Jamaica2
Jersey133
Latvia1
Liechtenstein2
Luxembourg8
Malaysia1
Malta11
Mauritius2
Netherlands99
New Zealand40
Norway5
Portugal23
Russian Federation1
South Africa31
Spain14
Sri Lanka1
St Lucia3
St Vincent & The Grenadines1
Sweden7
Switzerland133
Trinidad & Tobago3
Turkey3
USA14
TOTAL2895

The QROPS list is not an HMRC schedule of ‘approved’ pensions, but a list of schemes self-certified by their administrators to confirm they meet QROPS rules. Not all schemes are listed as some remain anonymous.

The list is published twice a month by HMRC.

Retirement savers cannot transfer a UK pension fund to a QROPS scheme that is not listed. If the scheme is not listed, savers can check with HMRC if the QROPS is on the private list.

A list of scheme providers is available for free download from HMRC website

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