Blacktower’s Nexus Fund Reaches £100m Milestone

Expats living in Gilbraltar who currently enjoying the benefits of a QROPS will be pleased to hear that the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, has said that the impending Brexit negotiations are an opportunity for the Rock to seize the moment and to ensure that the future is something it can “write for itself”.

The Chief Minister, making a statement in the days leading up to the first session of Parliament, said that it was important not to become bogged down in the contentious “in, out” arguments that marred so much of the pre-referendum campaigning. Rather, said the Chief Minister, those involved in discussions should focus on achieving positive outcomes so that Gibraltar can continue to be heavily engaged with the European Union.

In September 2017, it was announced that the Portuguese Government, following pressure from Sweden and a number of other European countries, was looking to water down the country’s non-habitual residency (NHR) tax regime, potentially bringing to an end a programme that has worked in the interests of expats since 2009. The uncertainty this proposed move provoked certainly threatened to put a dampener on the financial plans of quite a number of expats and would-be expats as they moved into 2018.

However, the budget proposal presented by the Portuguese government in November seemed to allay these fears. There was not a single mention of the scheme, which would have seen the introduction of a flat rate of tax of either 5% or 10% on income drawn from the pensions of NHRs.

In all probability any such move would have seen the pensions of existing expat NHRs unaffected; however, it would have presented a significant stumbling block to the retirement plans of many looking to move both their wealth and their residence status to the country.