A UK pension usually stays with you when you move abroad, but State Pension increases, tax and how you are paid can change. Here is what to check.

If you are asking what happens to my pension if I move abroad, the answer is different for each pot: the State Pension, a workplace or personal pension, and any thought of moving money overseas each follow their own rules. Pension Wise, part of MoneyHelper, gives free, impartial guidance on the options to people aged 50 or over with a UK-based defined contribution pension. Planning a move? Send the short form on this page and your pensions, destination and leaving date can be talked over, free, when an FCA-authorised adviser rings you back.

Three questions to settle before you go

Leaving the UK raises three questions, each answered by a different body. The State Pension follows the Department for Work and Pensions' overseas rules. Workplace and personal pensions are paid by their providers, and the income is taxed under rules set by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the country where you settle and any treaty between them. Whether to send money to an overseas scheme is a third, separate decision.

This guide covers the UK side only; how another country taxes a UK pension or a transfer is for its own law and advisers.

The State Pension abroad: increases, claims and payment

GOV.UK's guide to the State Pension abroad says your pension "will only increase each year" if you live in the European Economic Area (EEA), Gibraltar, Switzerland or a country with a social security agreement with the UK, and "you cannot get increases in Canada or New Zealand". Anywhere else, "You will not get yearly increases", so the amount stays where it was. It adds: "Your pension will go up to the current rate if you return to live in the UK." The State Pension guide covers what the amount is and how it is built up.

Claiming and being paid

You must be within 4 months of your State Pension age to claim, and you can do so through the International Pension Centre. If you live part of the year abroad, you "must choose which country you want your pension to be paid in". It can go into a bank in the country where you live or a bank or building society in the UK. Paid overseas, there is a conversion charge of 0.39%, and you can choose to be paid every 4 or 13 weeks. Changes go to the International Pension Centre by phone or in writing, and payments may be suspended if a life certificate form is not returned. It also advises people already retired who are thinking of moving. For tax, see whether the State Pension is taxable.

Filling gaps while you are abroad

Years abroad can leave gaps in your National Insurance record. For time abroad from the 2026 to 2027 tax year, GOV.UK says voluntary Class 2 is no longer available, and Class 3 needs either 10 years in a row living in the UK or 10 years of qualifying contributions in total; the form is CF83. Your State Pension forecast shows whether a gap matters, and topping up the State Pension explains the rest.

Workplace and personal pensions: who pays you, and where

A pension from a workplace scheme, personal pension or SIPP is paid by its provider under that provider's terms, and practice for members abroad varies. Questions worth putting to yours in writing:

  • Will you pay into an overseas bank account, in which currency, and what do you charge for it?
  • What do you need to know about where I live and where I pay tax, and who do I tell when that changes?
  • Do any limits apply to my plan, for example on paying in, investing or making withdrawals, once my address is outside the UK?
  • How do I get statements and instructions to you from abroad?

The age at which money can be taken is a UK rule that stays in place wherever you live: the FCA says you can only take money from your pension when you are 55 or older except in certain cases such as poor health, and the normal minimum pension age rises to 57 from 6 April 2028 (HMRC, through GOV.UK). Pension Wise explains the ways of taking a defined contribution pot.

UK tax on a UK pension when you live abroad

According to GOV.UK, you usually have to pay tax on your UK income, pensions included, even if you are not a UK resident, and the country where you live might tax it too. A double-taxation agreement may stop you paying twice; each one sets out which country you pay tax in, where you claim relief and how much. Most pensions can be claimed for, but most UK government pensions, such as civil service ones, "are only taxed in the UK". HMRC's double-taxation digest shows which countries have an agreement. GOV.UK lists claim forms for a set of countries and a standard form for everyone else, sent to the tax authority where you live; the Spain form for pensions and annuities is one example, and its notes say each application is dealt with on its merits.

The deduction at source is a separate matter. HMRC's PAYE manual, its internal guidance for staff, says PAYE "applies to all pensions paid to non-residents except where the pension arises wholly from an employment carried on abroad". In practice it treats that as covering a pension where the last ten years of service with the employer were abroad, or where at least half the service and at least ten of the last twenty years were. A pension for UK service stays liable to UK tax, and HMRC staff must not allow a treaty claim automatically. A pension outside PAYE can still be taxed through Self Assessment unless a treaty exempts it, and not every treaty does. The tax code NT means "You’re not paying any tax on this income"; the manual uses it for a pension from employment abroad while the pensioner stays non-resident and lives in a treaty country. A non-resident claims the Personal Allowance at the end of each tax year, and qualifies as a British or EEA citizen, through UK government work during that tax year, or under the treaty. GOV.UK lists a pension outside the UK, for someone UK resident in one of the 5 previous tax years, as a reason to send a Self Assessment return. The tax guide for UK pensions abroad and pension tax codes go further.

How a treaty might treat your own pensions, and when relief is claimed, are worth a conversation: complete the form on this page with where you are moving, and an FCA-authorised adviser phones you to discuss it.

Keeping a UK pension or moving it overseas

Moving house abroad does not move a pension. Sending UK pension savings to an overseas scheme is a separate request, and GOV.UK says the receiving scheme must be a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (QROPS): otherwise the UK scheme may refuse, or tax of at least 40% is due on the transfer. A transfer to a QROPS can itself carry a 25% overseas transfer charge, now set out in sections 244AA to 244AC of the Finance Act 2004, depending on where the scheme is based and your overseas transfer allowance. Payments from an overseas scheme can also carry UK tax, depending on when you were UK resident. The detail belongs to other guides: what a QROPS is, which countries have QROPS, whether it is a good idea, QROPS or an international SIPP, moving a QROPS back to the UK and moving a UK pension to another country.

A final salary or other defined benefit pension is in a different position. Before its safeguarded benefits can be transferred, the scheme has to check you have taken appropriate independent advice unless their transfer value is £30,000 or less (SI 2015/742, regulation 5). In the view of the FCA and The Pensions Regulator, keeping a DB pension is the better course for most people, and a transfer cannot be undone; see final salary pensions and finding a transfer specialist.

Offers to move or unlock a pension

The age rule above is also the plainest scam test: the FCA calls an offer to release cash from a pension before 55 almost certainly a scam. Its advice on an unexpected call about your pension is to hang up, since cold calling is illegal. Any adviser you use should be one the FCA has authorised, found by you rather than by whoever made contact. The FCA's pension scams page lists the warning signs and takes reports on 0800 111 6768; see also our guide to pension scams.

Questions about moving abroad with a UK pension

Can I take or cash in my pension if I live abroad?

The UK minimum pension age applies wherever you live, and what you can take, and how it is paid, depends on your plan and provider. Tax is covered above.

Will my State Pension go up if I live abroad?

Only in the places listed in the State Pension section above. Elsewhere it stays at the same amount until you return to the UK.

What about my Nest or PensionBee pension?

Each provider sets its own terms for members abroad, so put the questions listed above to Nest or PensionBee directly.

Do I have to tell anyone when I move?

Tell your pension providers your new address, and report changes for the State Pension to the International Pension Centre. On returning, GOV.UK says to contact the Pension Service and call HMRC. The UK State Pension abroad has more.

Your next step

Which pensions to keep, which country taxes what and whether any transfer is worth considering all turn on where you go and when. The form on this page, answered with your own departure plans, brings a no-charge conversation with an FCA-authorised adviser.

Sources, accessed 20 October 2026: GOV.UK, State Pension if you retire abroad; GOV.UK, Tax on your UK income if you live abroad; GOV.UK, Voluntary National Insurance and Transferring your pension; HMRC PAYE Manual PAYE81750; HMRC form notes DT-Spain Individual (HMRC 10/20); Finance Act 2004 ss244AA, 244AC; SI 2015/742, regulation 5; FCA, pension scams and defined benefit transfer pages; MoneyHelper, Pension Wise.