Foreign Pensions - Double Tax Agreements

Hi, I am grateful for your confirmation on whether my understanding will be valid: Under UK/Hong Kong Double Taxation Treaty DT9207 Article 17 stated that the pension which arises in Hong Kong are taxation only in Hong Kong, As such income is not taxation in the UK, there is no need to be reported in a self-assessment tax return. Thank you.

Hi Martin,
If you buy UK property and rent it out, the income from this is liable in the UK as this is not exempt under double taxation. The standard UK rate of tax will be applied.
Thank you.

Not HMRC, Belgium/UK DTA says it may be taxed in country its situated in, so it would be taxed in UK (scotland) and you can claim a tax credit for UK tax paid in Belgium, you may have to pay any difference there according to their tax rates and cannot claim back any extra paid in the UK if their tax rates work out less...you need an accountant in Belgium and Scotland.

Richard...the issue with that is the rules would only be cast iron when solely tax resident in the UK, and there are hundreds of thousands of UK taxpayers, if not millions, in receipt of foreign pensions governed by different residence rules which may determine that another country has taxing rights and not the UK e.g. a UK tax resident in receipt of a South African pension is taxed on it soley in the UK, but, they may need to do a UK return due to UK property but actually be non UK tax resident by reason of not spending enough time in the UK to qualify and the South African pension would in that situation only go on their South African return.

I'd like some clarification of the process/timing of obtaining an NT tax code to avoid double taxation on my UK pensions now that I am resident in the USA. Some sources I've seen, indicate that there may be a way of obtaining an NT code before ANY actual disbursement is made from a given pension ; most sources though, indicate that I *must* receive a disbursement first in order to set up some kind of PAYE record/link that is then used in applying for the NT code. Which is correct ? I can see that for a pension that will undergo a drawdown process with multiple payouts, it may be no big deal to wait for an initial payment to be made by the pension, before applying for the NT code to be granted and applied in future. In my case however, I have 2 "defined contribution" personal pensions whose administrators state that due to me being a US resident, no monthly payments are offered and instead my only option is to take the full pension pot as a single disbursement. That means that I would get taxed on the full amount and not have any future payments for the NT code to apply to (because 1 payment is all I'd get). Is there in fact a way to get the NT code prior to that full payout, or must I instead pay tax on the full payout and then somehow reclaim it ?

Hi Gordon,
The pension provider is required to deducted tax in every case, until such time as HMRC issue code NT.  
We can only issue an NT tax code or refund any tax paid, when we have proof you are tax resident in the USA.  
The only accepted way to prove that you are tax resident in the USA and not taxable on your UK pensions, including state pension; is by completing the DT individual form at:
 Double Taxation: UK-USA (SI 2002 number 2848) (form US-Individual 2002).  
The completed form is submitted to the IRS (see the notes for the address to send it to) for the IRS to confirm that you are tax resident in the USA.  They will send the validated form to HMRC for processing.  
We do have a backlog of post, so it may be a while before your claim is processed.
Thank you.

Thanks for the response, but I am still unclear whether I can apply for the NT code PRIOR to the pension making any disbursement to me, or whether I must wait until after payment has been made. Can you please clarify ?

Hi,
HMRC cannot isssue NT code until the pension actually starts.  
Thank you.