Moving to USA from UK- Question on Pensions

Hi
  After living in the UK for 2 years, I am finally back in the USA. My UK Pensions account was 100% contributed by my employer and has 13K or so in it. I got a letter from my employer to move this out within the next 2 months or I risk losing it out.

  A couple of questions here

1) I know IRS does not accept the QROPS transfer, what options do i have with the money, without losing it out to my Pension provider.

2) Since I am no longer a resident in the UK, can I still transfer my money to a UK SIPP.


raj

You can transfer to any UK based personal pension (including a SIPP) or QROPS anywhere globally that is willing to accept the monies.

Any such plan would be a foreign grantor trust requiring annual filing of Forms 3520-A and 3520 as well as the FBAR you have already been filing if this is vested.

You may also find yourself subject to US income tax on income within the trust.

Doing a QROPs for such a small amount probably won't be practical.

So you need to ask your pension provider about your options and then investigate the US tax consequences. If you do find yourself having to transfer your pension to something like a SIPP the fact that you have made no contributions to the pension will probably make dealing with it on your US taxes relatively simple, but you should check with a tax professional.

If it's in a SIPP you will have to file FBAR and I'd also make sure you dealt with the employer contributions correctly on previous 1040s.