Canadian Resident Working as Contractor in UK

**sal** · 13 October 2014, 09:24

You will most likely need UK (England & Wales) registered company as the majority (if not all) agencies / clients will refuse to work with non-UK ltd contractors. Which means you will pay corporate tax in UK and solves your bank account troubles.

Also no matter the fact that you consider yourself Canadian resident you will most likely have to pay personal tax in UK if you spend more than 178 (or so) days of the year in UK as the income will be sourced in UK.

In addition I strongly advise you to seek professional opinion on the matter as tax affairs are not to be taken lightly, so i wouldn't rely solely on the opinion of some strangers on the internet.

**BigTime** · 13 October 2014, 09:58

HM Revenue & Customs: Income Tax when arriving in the UK

If you stay below the thresholds, you could use a brolly, claim the tax back and pay what's due in Canada.

If you've been in Canada for less than 5 years, you may be able to do something with a trust. Canadian Immigration - Tax Advantages for New Canadian Immigrants

**adh** · 13 October 2014, 11:19

Cheers

Thanks for your thoughts on my case. Good to know that agencies are wary of non-UK companies. I think the way forward is a UK based company but will naturally check the Canada tax implications.

**BlasterBates** · 13 October 2014, 12:27

The fact that you're resident in Canada, does not exempt you from tax in the UK. UK non residents are liable for tax for income sourced in the UK.

i.e. you have to run a UK Ltd company and tax your company as well as your private income from the company in the UK. Canadian income won't be taxed in the UK, but UK income will need to be declared in Canada. If you spend more than 183 days in the UK, then this doesn't necessarily mean you will be UK resident but it will be mean they will check your residency in depth

**portseven** · 13 October 2014, 21:45

Originally posted by adh View Post

I have found the market here not to be great and, if I have to travel 'out West' to Calgary/Edmonton as it seems I will need to, then I think I am better off going to do some temporary contracts in the UK where I have family and friends..

Can I be cheeky and ask for tips in the opposite direction? We (as a family) would love to make the move out to Edmonton or Calgary, so whats the market like in those cities? I am a Solutions Architect mostly worked in large retailers / financial services.

**adh** · 14 October 2014, 12:01

Originally posted by portseven View Post

Can I be cheeky and ask for tips in the opposite direction? We (as a family) would love to make the move out to Edmonton or Calgary, so whats the market like in those cities? I am a Solutions Architect mostly worked in large retailers / financial services.

Of course! TBH my experience has not been great in terms of contracting. I am on the East Coast and there is not much going on here except in Halifax. I have been looking far and wide for a few months - went to Toronto and met with headhunters but roles and more importantly interviews have been few and far between. I am a PM specializing in Agile but most of the PM roles want infrastructure or 5 years of financial/insurance - so your experience may be sought after.

I tend to find that the Canadian job market is based more on networking and word of mouth. I think it is relatively easy to hire and fire people here so contracting is not as prevalent as the UK. In my experience companies are claiming grants from the Government to fund new posts do they are only really looking at permies.

That said, the people here are great and they love the Brits so expect to get quizzed regularly on your background! Also beware of the winters - especially out West. Interestingly I have just been put forward for a role in Edmonton so we'll see what happens.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Canadian Resident Working as Contractor in UK