European portability option
Wealth Management PortfolioWe designed the European portability option for those customers who want to move to France, Italy or Spain and take their WMP with them.
The table below answers some of the questions you might have now about the European portability option.
Search questions
Type your search term to filter the answers
Categories
Your questions
What is it?
It offers you effective income tax deferral on your bond if you take it to France, Italy or Spain.
What does it mean?
Although France, Italy and Spain have different tax regimes to the UK, if you are planning to move to any of these countries, you can maintain income tax efficiency in the new country of residence within the same bond.
This means you don’t have to spend time looking for new investments before you leave, saving you time and money.
What does it cost?
There’s no additional charge.
When can you select it?
You can select it when you first set up the bond (if you’re moving the following three months) or at any point in the future if you decide to move.
Please note: if you are planning to move to Spain, there are certain investment restrictions that must be met when the bond is set up. We give you a bit more information on this below, but we strongly recommend you speak to your financial adviser.
Does it affect any product features?
If you've taken advantage of the European portability option for Spain, you won’t be able to add more money to your bond later. Also, adding more money to your bond before using the European portability option for Spain means you won’t be able to take advantage of this later.
What support do we provide?
We provide you with a Welcome pack that gives specific information, including what to consider before leaving the UK and on the new tax regime in their new country of residence.
It’s important to know that, if you’re going to use your bond for UK Inheritance tax planning, you won’t be able to select the European portability option.
Moving to Spain – important information
Unlike with France and Italy, there are certain investment conditions to meet when setting up the WMP if you are planning to move to Spain and wish to continue from income tax deferral. These are:
- You need to invest in Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS)-compliant fund from the time you set up your WMP.
- The minimum investment is £75,000.
- If you want to make any top-ups before they move to Spain, or while in Spain, you’ll need to set up a new WMP.
If all these conditions are met, our WMP would be classed as a ‘qualifying’ policy while you were tax resident in Spain.
We strongly recommend that you speak to your financial adviser and, where appropriate, seek advice from a tax specialist before you select the European portability option or take your bond to another country of residence.