Tax Relief on Offshore Pension Contributions

[JoeBolt]

For most of the 1990s I was an ex-pat working in the UAE (before it became too Chavvy) and non-UK resident for tax purposes. At this time I started paying into an offshore pension fund (Managed Pension Account) with Isle of Man based Skandia International.

I’ve been back in the UK and paying tax like a respectable person for a good few years now but I still pay into this pension fund (presently £180 per month).

Could I and should I be claiming tax relief on these contributions via my annual tax return?

Is it possible to claim a refund of tax for previous years contributions?

[Cheib]

I'd suggest going to see a decent IFA or accountant.....personally it makes no sense to me having an offshore pension in you are a UK tax payer. I can't see why you would qualify for tax relief either ?!?! In fact you may have issues around dividends on any holdings in your pension which you should have been declaring? Dividends in UK based pensions have tax due on them that may not be the case in the IoM. Surely you were advised on this when you came back to the UK ?

[PurpleMoonlight]

No you can't claim tax relief.

You need to stop paying to the IOM one and establish a UK one instead.

[JoeBolt]

I have consulted with an IFA since returning to the UK. However, as is often the case, he didn't seem to listen and was more interested in selling me new products, rather than reviewing my existing situation.

If anyone can recommend a good IFA within a reasonable distance of Portsmouth, I'd be interested.

Page TR4 of the Tax Return 2011 has a section with the title 'Tax Reliefs - Paying into registered pension schemes and overseas pension schemes'
Against Box 4 it states: 'Payments to an overseas pension scheme which is not UK-registered which are eligible for tax relief and were not deducted from your pay before tax'

The guidance notes are a bit sketchy but I wondered if this is applicable to my pension fund.

[Mattt]

I guess by 'Payments to an overseas pension scheme which is not UK-registered which are eligible for tax relief' they would be talking about a QROPS - IIRC there's a list of them on HMRC's website.