HMRC report details French QROPS

At the beginning of March 2017, a report titled “Brexit: Gibraltar” was published by the House of lords EU Select Committee. The purpose of the report was to make sure UK Government does not forget about Gibraltar during negotiations for an exit deal, ensuring its voice is heard.

The potential issues facing Gibraltar are felt to be so concerning that a debate on the report was held on March 21 in the House of Lords. The Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, attended the debate. At the session Baroness Goldie stated that the economic bonds between the UK and Gibraltar would be maintained and strengthened after Brexit, and Picardo said this was “deeply important” for Gibraltar.

As we hurtle towards the EU referendum and are being deluged with information about the whys and wherefores of Brexit or Bremain, Blacktower takes a look at what matters to us: the UK expats whose futures, whatever the outcome of the vote, are very much determined by the quality of their expat financial advice.

Just how many British expats are there in Europe?

Well, data published by the Office of National Statistics shows – although not completely reliably, we feel – that there are around 1.2 million British expats within the EU (some estimates put this figure as high as 2 million).

The vast majority of these live in tried, tested and sun-drenched destinations such as Spain and France. But before you start thinking that expats just move away purely in search of a sunnier climate, think again; the third most popular destination is Ireland (150 days of rainfall a year compared to the UK’s 133).