Really Graham, you are not aware of this, you claim to have worked at one point for the UK Civil Service at least that was what I took from your references to working in relation to the benefits system. The second link is the specific one. https://www.gov.uk/moving-or-retiring-abroad https://www.gov.uk/tax-right-retire-abroad-return-to-uk It's been that way for a very long time this is not new. Source? The Government
Haahahhaahaha Well that implies that you worked in the black economy and if you don't know for sure if you paid NI then you sure as hell didn't pay tax. Rumbled For information your wife will be entitled to a reasonable proportion of the UK state pension the calulations are complex and frankly I don't know how accurate my guess would be but I would think she will likely get about £90 to £100 a week as a UK pension for 20 years contributions. Current full pension is around £169 pound a week, this amount is index linked and will be numerically a lot higher by the time your wife and you reach your respective retirement ages. UK and Philippines have reciprocal pension agreements which means that you get the same increases at the same time as the UK. If you were invisible during your UK working life then you probably won't want to draw attention to yourself in 10 or 12 years time but I expect your wife will have no problem, pension has to be claimed it does not happen automatically but she is entitled as are you if you paid NI although under current rules 10 years contributions are borderline for you I think.
That makes no sense, you left and you are collecting a UK pension, all it can save them is healthcare costs and some ancillary benefits, meanwhile the money an expat retiree gets is not being recycled through the UK economy and is therefore a net drain on the UK. Save the Government a fortune? please explain!
Fair cop,although I reckon it was more down to self incrimination on my part! I would never have described my old work places as being part of a "Black economy" but I guess it could be said that there may have been the odd shade of grey on occasion. I would definitely be interested in finding out what my actual NI contributions were over the years..Who knows,I may be in for a pleasant surprise.. (or not) To be honest,I really did not pay much attention to any deductions back then and would probably not have thought about them now, had you not brought the subject up. My Mrs did my books for the last 5 years and she just told me that I paid N.I for that period of time!! Not too shabby eh!
UK Retirees abroad do save the tax-payer quite a considerable sum unless, like me, they have constant healthcare needs and they live in a country with a bipartite healthcare agreement and a national health service. Given the number of times I've been hospitalised over the last two years and the costs involved, I'd have saved you a fortune had I not moved from Davao.
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension Don't use Government Gateway to prove who you are, use GOV.UK Verify to create an account, the service gives you a pension forecast and a full history of your NI contributions. I'm not sure it will work to be honest as I think they might need ID that you can't supply but it might be worth a shot. I think under current rules you need a total of 10 years worth of contributions in order to get anything, as a self employed person that means Class 2 nic's, when I was paying class 2 nic's it cost about £8.40 a month I made sure I always paid them because I knew they were essential for what few benefits I could claim and for the state pension, of course I paid Class 4 on my business profits as well which was rather more expensive.
It's only a saving where there is no reciprocal pension agreement, in that case yes the Government does not have to pay out as much over a retiree's lifetime. Yes the healthcare savings can be substantial for those who have chronic conditions but I suspect that a great many overseas retiree's return either to the UK or as you have done o an EU country, when they develop late life chronic health issues. You wouldn't have a saved me a fortune, I don't think about state benefits that way, the money is not mine.
Cash in hand work has been referred to as the Black Economy for my entire working life, HMRC reckons it costs them round about a couple of billion a year in lost tax.
I have lived and worked overseas on and off since 1969, finally leaving UK full time in 1982. I didn't even think about being entitled to any sort of UK pension. Then approximately 3 months before reaching the age of 65, HM Pensions contacted me in Dubai, how they knew I was there is a mystery. They sent me a form to complete, which I answered honestly and returned to them. Lo and behold from my 65th birthday I started to receive my UK pension, not the full amount, but nonetheless, a decent amount paid quarterly into my UK bank as requested. I also receive the annual increments, living now in Philippines.
You probably had an element of graduated pension in there as well and you were clearly born early enough to reach pension age at 65. Interesting and surprising that they knew where you were, maybe they used your passport renewal address.
I think you're right that there was enough paid into the system, and yes again on the passport for tracking me down.
Yes I did work for the Department of Employment at one stage in my life, and yes I do know how things STILL work in the UK BENEFIT and TAXATION system. Evidently in your rush to press, you have totally misinterpreted the purpose of that government website 'advice' page. It is nothing more than a list of recommendations....to keep one's financial affairs and government records in order...should you decide to retire abroad. There is NOTHING whatsoever compulsory there...which is what your original scaremongering post was hinting at.
For a non-tax paying pensioner ? I'm quaking in my boots... NOT. OBVIOUSLY you give your new address to those paying your pension !
Nothing bad or illegal about receiving cash in hand for work completed.. Pretty sure I declared most of what they deserved to receive after my expenses were deducted!!
You aren't a taxpayer and you have nothing to worry about but strictly speaking according to that page you are supposed to tell HMRC that you have left, many people leave in order to work and they don't immediately automatically get non resident status and therefore their earnings abroad 'can' be accruing a tax debt to HMRC. When I retire I will still be a tax payer and I will still have to pay tax in the UK on anything I draw down on my private pension and I will be notifying them if I leave.
Depends what you mean by 'deserved' I know lots of taxi drivers that think HMRC should tax them on an income of about 15 grand a year that's what they declare as income for about 40,000 miles worth of driving But if you were declaring your earnings and paying Class 2 nic's then yes you don't have a problem and you should get a reasonable pension.
Well lets say that come rain,shine or snow ,I stood in line one evening outside a poll booth to vote for a Political party in a general election in the UK.. My voting decision was based only on a bunch of promises in a manifesto that they had previously published. Now if after 2 years in office, they only deliver say 40% of the promises that they made,how much tax would it be fair for me to pay them based on their failing performance? Don`t forget to include a 20% penalty as part of my tax deduction to them.
