QROPS or international SIPP: which should you choose?

QROPS vs international SIPP: a QROPS is a scheme abroad that can trigger a 25% charge on the way in, while a SIPP stays with a UK provider.

Moving abroad gives a UK pension two broad routes: it can stay with a UK provider, in a SIPP for example, or it can be transferred to an overseas scheme. This page sets a QROPS beside an international SIPP on the points that change once you live abroad, and it does not say which is better. Which route fits turns on where you live and how large the pot is, so it helps to run your own figures past an FCA-authorised adviser. Requesting a ring-back costs nothing and starts in this page's form.

How does a QROPS differ from an international SIPP?

A QROPS is a pension scheme outside the UK that HMRC treats as able to receive UK pension transfers. An international SIPP is the everyday name for a SIPP held with a UK provider that takes members who live abroad. Which providers do, and on what terms, is a matter for each firm's own documents; SIPPs for non-UK residents goes through that side.

For a QROPS, HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual says a scheme "must not be a registered pension scheme" and must pass four steps in order: it is a pension scheme, an overseas pension scheme, a recognised overseas pension scheme, and finally a QROPS. HMRC publishes a notification list of schemes that have told it they qualify as recognised overseas pension schemes, last updated on 15 October 2026. GOV.UK puts the checking on you: "It’s up to you to check this with the overseas scheme or your UK pension provider or adviser." Your UK scheme may turn down a transfer to an overseas scheme without QROPS status; if it goes ahead, GOV.UK warns of "at least 40% tax on the transfer".

A SIPP that stays in the UK is the route MoneyHelper calls leaving your pension where it is. The basics are in what a QROPS is, how a SIPP works and checking HMRC's list.

Does the 25% charge hit a QROPS, an international SIPP or both?

The overseas transfer charge belongs to the QROPS route. HMRC describes it as a 25% tax charge on transfers to a QROPS that applies unless an exclusion is met. Leaving money in a UK SIPP is not a transfer to a QROPS at all.

HMRC's manual lists exclusion conditions, and meeting any one takes a transfer out of the charge. The one that turns on where you live is being tax resident in the same country as the one the QROPS is established in. The other three depend on your job, covering an occupational QROPS of your employer, a QROPS set up by an international organisation you work for, and an overseas public service scheme your employer takes part in.

Each works only if you gave the scheme administrator the required information before the transfer. A fifth exclusion, for a QROPS in Gibraltar or the European Economic Area, has gone: HMRC's policy paper records its removal at the Autumn Budget 2024, and the manual says it "only applies to transfers requested before 30 October 2024 and completed before 30 April 2025". Living in the QROPS's own country remains an exclusion. Whether one fits turns on your own residence and employment; an FCA-authorised adviser, on a ring-back arranged via the form here, can test that against your facts.

GOV.UK says the overseas transfer allowance is usually £1,073,100, and a transfer above it that is otherwise excluded pays 25% on the excess. Moving country within 5 years of the transfer means form APSS 241 goes to the scheme administrator: you get a refund if you moved to the QROPS's country, or pay 25% tax if you moved away from it. More is in HMRC's QROPS rules.

Currency, investments and charges

MoneyHelper says a pension left in the UK is usually paid in pounds, and if you need another currency you could use a foreign exchange account, with the risk that "you might need to pay exchange fees" and "exchange rates often change daily". A transfer to an overseas scheme "usually means" income is "paid in your local currency", and that the pension is regulated in the country the scheme is based in.

On investments, MoneyHelper describes a SIPP as one that lets you decide how your pension money is invested, usually with a wider choice than other pension types. For an overseas scheme it tells you to find out how the money will be invested, whether you can choose your own investments, and what each layer costs: set-up and transfer charges, annual management fees, investment charges and fees to change investments.

Whichever route you take, MoneyHelper's warning holds: "All investments can rise and fall, so there’s always a risk you could get back less than you pay in." Moving can also mean giving up a benefit; MoneyHelper's example is a guaranteed annuity rate.

How are withdrawals taxed from each?

For a pension that stays in a UK SIPP, GOV.UK says you "usually have to pay tax on your UK income even if you’re not a UK resident", pensions included. Your new country may tax it too. Where it has a double-taxation agreement with the UK, you can claim relief so you are not taxed twice, and each agreement sets out which country you pay in and how much relief you get. MoneyHelper adds that you can usually take up to 25% tax-free in the UK, though that lump sum can still be taxed in the country you live in.

For a QROPS, MoneyHelper says you will be taxed by the overseas country you live in, and you might also pay UK Income Tax on income taken within five years of transferring and ten years of living permanently outside the UK. GOV.UK states it more briefly: you may owe UK tax on some payments from the overseas scheme, depending on when you were a UK resident. Taking money before age 55, except in cases such as poor health, can lead to UK tax of up to 55% and other penalties, according to MoneyHelper. HMRC's manual notes that the UK's normal minimum pension age of 55 rises to 57 from 6 April 2028. Tax-free lump sums from a QROPS and UK pension tax when living abroad go further.

Another country's tax rules are not covered here; MoneyHelper suggests advice in the UK and in the country you are moving to.

Checks that apply to both routes

The FCA lists warning signs of a pension scam that fit overseas moves: a "guaranteed better return", high-pressure sales tactics, "unusual investments, which tend to be unregulated and high risk", complicated structures, and several groups, some perhaps overseas, all taking a fee. It adds that if you are contacted unexpectedly with an offer of a free pension review, "it’s likely to be a scam". The FCA's pension scams page explains how to report one; spotting pension scams goes through the tactics.

A defined benefit (final salary or similar) pension needs extra care. The regulators FCA and TPR "believe it’s in most people’s best interests to keep their DB pension", and the FCA adds that a transfer cannot be undone. Where safeguarded benefits carry a transfer value of more than £30,000, the UK scheme must first check that appropriate independent advice was taken (SI 2015/742, regulation 5). Who can give it is covered in finding a transfer specialist.

Questions people ask about QROPS and SIPPs

What is a non-QROPS pension?

The term usually means an overseas scheme that is not a QROPS. MoneyHelper says a transfer to one is "usually treated as an unauthorised payment", with an unauthorised tax charge of up to 55% plus other penalties. If you meant a pension that simply stays in the UK, no transfer to an overseas scheme is involved.

Can a QROPS be moved into a SIPP?

That depends on the receiving UK provider agreeing; moving a QROPS back to the UK sets out the HMRC position and the questions to put to a UK provider.

Can I choose my own investments in a QROPS?

Schemes differ, so it is one of the questions MoneyHelper says to put to the scheme before you transfer.

Weighing it up before any money moves

Whether to move a pension abroad, or leave it, depends on where you will live, what you need paid in which currency and how the tax lines up on both sides. Having one overseas scheme in mind is a good moment to speak to someone: an enquiry via the form here gets you a no-fee phone call, and whoever rings is an FCA-authorised adviser. For the wider picture, see what happens to your pension if you move abroad and how to transfer a pension.