In Focus News & Insights

At the moment, politicians across the world – especially, it seems, in the UK – are in the spotlight regarding their tax affairs. Banks, however, will also soon be in the spotlight, as by Friday 15th April they have been told to hand any information regarding their dealings with the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers over to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.

As a result, pressure is growing on the City watchdog to launch a full-blown investigation into these explosive claims.

It has already become clear that nearly all of the major banks are involved to some degree, with a few well known Banks such as HSBC, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Coutts and Rothschild’s standing out more than others.

It has been revealed that Harvey McGregor, the lawyer who innovated Grand Cayman as a tax planning centre for high net worth individuals, inspiring the growth of the financial services community in the Caribbean islands, has left an estate worth £1.4 million to his long-term partner.

McGregor had such a profound impact on the Cayman Islands wealth management sector that it is now home to the world’s fifth largest banking sector while also at the forefront of the expat financial services industry; with both Blacktower and Rothschilds having offices in the British Overseas Territory. It is also ranked as the world’s second leading tax planning destination, behind only Luxembourg and, in testament to the work of McGregor, has the highest standard of living in all of the Caribbean.

As we all know we have been told time and time again that, because of the world´s economic state, we all have to pay as much tax to the governments as humanly possible and that, if we try to hide any money, we will be heavily penalised. Well, yet again it has been proved that there is one rule for us and another rule for them – by them I mean the 1% that are super wealthy, politicians, or large corporations. 

Governments, tax authorities, journalists and experts on tax evasion and avoidance on Monday were digesting news of a major leak of confidential and reportedly revealing documents from a Panamanian law firm. Some are calling it the biggest leak of confidential information ever to hit the global financial services industry.

Providers of financial services abroad frequently find themselves undertaking work involving tax and the various cross-border issues involved with taxation.

As such, any provider of expat financial services should know that H.M. Revenue and Customs (HMRC) now has improved scope for the recovery of tax from UK expatriates.

This is due in no small part to the “Mutual Assistance in the Recovery of Debt” (MARD) agreements the UK has in place with various countries. These agreements operate across the EU and have been in place since 2012, allowing HMRC to recover taxes that are owed. Other countries signatory to MARD agreements include Norway, New Zealand and South Africa.

As the baby boomers hit pensionable age, the issue of pensions has become more important politically than ever before. This is a fact which has been reflected in the raft of changes that have been made by both the current and the previous government over the past few years. Baby boomers could be forgiven for feeling a little confused by it all and even retired expats with considerable regular savings are no different; pensions and pensions rules affect all.

Whoever you are, wherever you have settled in Europe and whatever the nature of your pension scheme – final salary or defined contribution – it is essential that you get advice regarding both your expat regular savings and your pension scheme; it can mean the difference between uncertainty and security.

It has just become more straightforward for those looking to transfer their pensions into a QROPS in France, with many pension providers promising to drastically reduce their exit charges in the wake of comments from Chancellor George Osborne saying he will introduce legislation to cap costs.

This comes in the wake of concerns that some savers have been discouraged from making the most of flexible pensions access because of exit charges of between 5% and 10%.

Osbourne commented, “The government will not allow financial firms to rip off customers who have spent their working lives saving hard for retirement.”

Expat wealth management concerns could play a major part in the Brexit debate over the next few months as the estimated two million UK nationals living abroad in the European Union consider their pension and healthcare entitlements.

As it stands, British expats living in the European Economic Area who possess a European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) are entitled to healthcare in their country of residence; however, if the UK decides to leave the EU, they may have to purchase private health insurance or find alternative ways to fund private treatment.