GUERNSEY’S income tax authorities are imposing further restrictions to stop potential misuse of pension schemes in the island.

The move comes as publicity in the local and national media over the last few months has been growing about the perceived misuse of overseas pension schemes that have qualifying recognised overseas status for the purposes of receiving transfers from UK schemes.

As a result, the Treasury and Resources Committee instructed the administrator of income tax to contact HM Revenue & Customs in order to identify its concerns and establish how they could be allayed.

‘We are now acting to maintain Guernsey’s good international reputation and to ensure that there is no damage to quite legitimate pensions business, which forms a significant part of this particular sector of the finance industry,’ said administrator Rob Gray (pictured).

Existing legislation allows the administrator to impose conditions on Guernsey Retirement Annuity Trust Schemes – a discretionary trust which acts as a self-administered private pension scheme for Guernsey residents – seeking approval in respect of locally-resident members, under the appropriate part of the Income Tax Law.

But additional conditions are now being imposed on the approval of any scheme which can admit non-residents of Guernsey for membership.