Over the past eighteen months there has been much discussion and debate regarding the opportunities relating to QROPS. This, together with the ever growing list of available QROPS and the number of jurisdictions in which QROPS administrators operate, has meant that there have been differing interpretations of the QROPS Rules even from QROPS administrators in the same jurisdiction. This has obviously made life very difficult when selecting a QROPS provider.
Over the past few months UK HMRC has been discussing the administration of QROPS with a number of international jurisdictions including Guernsey. In addition to these discussions practitioners within Guernsey, together with Guernsey Income Tax, have been considering how to amend the legislation governing pensions to make Guernsey a robust jurisdiction and sustainable provider of QROPS in the future.
As a result, the Guernsey Tax Office have proposed that further conditions should be imposed upon QROPS schemes.
These conditions are intended to safeguard the longevity of Guernsey Qrops. Guernsey Qrops providers understand the importance of their responsibilities in providing long term tax efficient benefits to the members in line with the rules of the scheme. These endorsement from the Guernsey Tax Office will hopefully reassure clients as to the future of Guernsey as a preferred jurisdiction for QROPS.
