Overseas pensions: stop being a QROPS
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-05)

How qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS) can lose their QROPS status and what former QROPS need to report.

Overview

If you manage a QROPS you must tell HMRC when you stop being a QROPS.

Former QROPS need to keep reporting information to HMRC about the payments they make, or they’ll have to pay an initial penalty of £300 and a daily penalty of up to £60 until they provide this information. Schemes that lose their QROPS status will have to deduct the overseas transfer charge where appropriate.

When you need to tell HMRC

You need to tell HMRC:
- if you no longer want your scheme to be a QROPS
- when your scheme stops meeting the QROPS requirements (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/overseas-pensions-tell-hmrc-youre-a-qrops)
If your scheme stops being a QROPS, you must tell HMRC within 30 days of the change happening.

You can use form APSS251B (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-schemes-change-in-status-and-notification-of-fund-value-apss-251b) to do this and report details about the pension savings held by your scheme.

If your QROPS status is removed by HMRC, you will still need to report details about the pension savings in your scheme that have UK tax relief. This will happen if:
- the scheme does not have a manager
- you give false or incorrect information to HMRC
- you do not report the required information (https://gov.uk/guidance/overseas-pensions-tell-hmrc-youre-a-qrops) to HMRC
- you do not pay the overseas transfer charge when due
Effects of losing your QROPS status

Your scheme will not be able to receive transfers from UK registered pension schemes or other QROPS free from UK tax. Individuals who want to transfer their pension savings into your scheme will have to pay an unauthorised payment charge (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pension-schemes-and-unauthorised-payments#tax-charges-on-unauthorised-payments) of at least 40%.

Your scheme members will not have to pay an unauthorised payments charge for their transfers if you received it before your scheme lost its QROPS status.

If your scheme stops being a QROPS you should stop accepting transfers immediately. Transfers from a registered pension scheme received by your scheme after this date will be unauthorised payments. Both the member and the transferring scheme administrator may be taxed on such transfers.

What you need to report

You have to tell HMRC within 30 days if you find that information you previously provided has changed, was incomplete or inaccurate. You can use form APSS251A (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-schemes-change-of-details-apss-251a) to do this.

You must report it to HMRC if you’re still holding funds that have had UK tax relief. There are additional limits to all other reporting, which you only have to report if one of the following applies:
- the member is UK resident
- the member has been UK resident at any time in the 5 tax years before a payment for funds transferred before 6 April 2017
- for funds transferred from 6 April 2017, the member has been UK resident at any time in the period 10 years before the payment out of funds transferred
If you’re liable to the overseas transfer charge (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/qualifying-recognised-overseas-pension-schemes-charge-on-transfers) you must pay it to HMRC within 90 days of the day that HMRC tells you how to pay it.

Former QROPS

If you’re the scheme manager of a former QROPS, you also need to tell HMRC within 90 days:
- when you make a payment from a pension (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/overseas-pensions-payments-to-your-members)
- if your scheme transfers savings to other schemes (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/overseas-pensions-pension-transfers)
- whether the transfer is liable to the overseas transfer charge
- if your scheme purchases taxable property
Former QROPS managers also have to tell their members when they have flexibly accessed their pension (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/overseas-pensions-payments-to-your-members).