Moving Pension to Malta

F

FANTANA

Registered User
Messages
131
youtu.be

Tax-Efficient Pension Strategies for High Earners

In this episode, Paul sits down once again with Aidan McLoughlin, Group Managing Director of ITC, to discuss how pensions can be used far beyond traditional ...
youtu.be youtu.be

I recently watched the above YouTube video on moving your pension to Malta with ITC. I had heard of this before but had thought it meant taking up residency there but that appears not to be the case.

I haven’t seen much discussion here on this topic and as per the clip there seems to be little downsides. Does anyone have experience in moving their pension to Malta?
 
Last edited:
Whats the advantage of trfing pension to Malta?

Before someone hits me with a link, I have checked the link above and it aint jumpin out at me.

Assume its tax advantageous? Is that it?

Cheers.
 
ArthurMcB said:
Whats the advantage of trfing pension to Malta?
Click to expand...
It was briefly popular during the great recession, when some people thought all pensions and bank accounts were at risk of being confiscated. Other than that, the advantage was that it allowed a lot more people get higher charges from the pension.
 
Malta allows a higher TFLS to be taken from the pot too. Though I can't see how the difference between the Irish TFLS and the Maltese lump sum wouldn't be taxed in Ireland at the higher rate.
 
miser said:
Malta allows a higher TFLS to be taken from the pot too. Though I can't see how the difference between the Irish TFLS and the Maltese lump sum wouldn't be taxed in Ireland at the higher rate.
Click to expand...
You can take 30% rather than 25%, but if your pot is smaller (like 650k) then that amount may still be under the 200k limit, so an extra 32.5k tax-free.

May be beneficial for couples with asymmetric pension values, where one person has a significantly smaller pot than the other.
 
The other benefit that I’m aware of is that an ARF is not recognised as a pension in most other countries, therefore may be double-taxed. Whereas the Maltese structure is not necessarily an annuity but still recognised as a pension in e.g. Spain.
 
I get that the Maltese Revenue will let you take out 30% rather than the Irish 25%. However, if you are living in, domiciled in, and resident in Ireland, then surely Irish Revenue will want to tax that extra 5% when it lands in your AIB current account?

If you have a €2m pot, that’s the difference between a 600k TFLS (Malta) & a 200k TFLS (Ireland). Can an Irish retiree really keep that €400k without the lads in Dublin Castle taking a cut? I’d have thought not- because if you could, I’d expect the financial advisor community would be publicising it more!

Makes sense with a smaller pot as per your example, but with a smaller pot you have to weigh up the cost of implementing the move to Malta vs the tax saving benefit.
 
This might be relevant here:
Marc said:
The transfer must be "“for bona fide reasons and is not primarily for the purpose of circumventing pensions tax legislation and Revenue rules”.

Surely looking to circumvent a signed lump sum waiver form isn't a bona fide transfer and my firm certainly wouldn't entertain a transfer on that basis.
Click to expand...
As I originally mentioned and linked to, there are several existing threads on the issue of moving one's pension abroad today may already answer questions that might crop up.
 
And another post/thread on this topic...

Has anyone transferred his/her pension to Malta?

The way you're angling your last few posts it's as if you think that I'm arguing that all advisers should know all details of all countries at all times. If that's not what you're suggesting, then what exactly are you suggesting? You brought up Malta. If I start recommending Malta to my...
www.askaboutmoney.com
 
There is an EU internal market for investment services. You are not obliged to use a provider in your country of residence.

Am not sure how Revenue are competent to adjudicate over what is and what isn’t a bona fide reason and what isn’t.
 
ClubMan said:
But presumably one's domicile/residency status will still dictate what jurisdiction's tax rules one is subject to?
Click to expand...
To the best of my knowledge, correct. The bona fides test applies to taxation, not to pension rules. Ergo, you can withdraw a 30% lump sum in Malta, but Irish tax rules of 200k tax-free, 300k at 20% apply.
 
My understanding is that the references to "bona fides" in threads that I linked were mainly or solely @Marc Westlake explaining the test that his own company (Everlake) applied when deciding whether or not they would facilitate moving a pension abroad for a client. I don't think that it referred to any test that Revenue apply?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top