How to contract - 3 day week in Belgium

[BenK]

Hi,

In short am in late stage interviews for a client that is offering 3 days on site in Belgium and 2 days remote (in my case my place of residence is another EU country). 9 months plus contract.

So on this basis I continue to remain tax resident (with my family) in the EU home country (183 day a year rule). Normally I contract through my limited company but the agency is saying the only route is to be self-employed in Belgium for all 5 days!

Does anyone have experience? I must be fully compliant in Belgium and my country of residence, so surely not all 5 days have to be declared as earned in Belgium?

I really need to pay social security (and tax) in the country where my kids need access to health and social services !! In my country there is no access if you are not paying in. My family is UK/EU nationals.

Any help appreciated.

[Scruff]

Erm....

Have you read any of this?

IT Contracting in Belgium - Money and Tax :: Contractor UK

IT Contracting in Belgium - Living and Working :: Contractor UK

[TheDandy]

Hi,

In short am in late stage interviews for a client that is offering 3 days on site in Belgium and 2 days remote (in my case my place of residence is another EU country). 9 months plus contract.

So on this basis I continue to remain tax resident (with my family) in the EU home country (183 day a year rule). Normally I contract through my limited company but the agency is saying the only route is to be self-employed in Belgium for all 5 days!

Does anyone have experience? I must be fully compliant in Belgium and my country of residence, so surely not all 5 days have to be declared as earned in Belgium?

I really need to pay social security (and tax) in the country where my kids need access to health and social services !! In my country there is no access if you are not paying in. My family is UK/EU nationals.

Any help appreciated.

The 183 day rule doesn't necessarily exclude you from paying tax in the other contracting country. You need to look at the double taxation treaty between the two countries in question which will give you a clear indication of what requirements you need to comply with. DTAs will cover your income tax obligations but you will have to deal with Social security separately. You need to look at the domestic arrangements of each country for social security. You may be able to continue to pay Social Security in your country of residence (see portable document A1 on HMRCs website). You haven't actually said if you are a UK resident, although it is implied.

[Boo]

Hi,

In short am in late stage interviews for a client that is offering 3 days on site in Belgium and 2 days remote (in my case my place of residence is another EU country). 9 months plus contract.

So on this basis I continue to remain tax resident (with my family) in the EU home country (183 day a year rule). Normally I contract through my limited company but the agency is saying the only route is to be self-employed in Belgium for all 5 days!

Does anyone have experience? I must be fully compliant in Belgium and my country of residence, so surely not all 5 days have to be declared as earned in Belgium? ...

This accountant's website may help :

Contracting in Belgium - Accountants UK - SJD Accountancy

Basically the agent is lying so s/he can get his/her hands on a juicy kickback from theManagementCo. YourCo is fully entitled to send you to Belgium for 183 days out of any year without your becoming part of the Belgian tax system.

And the method for counting the dats is as per the quoted website, and as I have said here many times :

Travelling days are normally excluded and only full days spent in the country are calculated,

Hth,

Boo

[BlasterBates]

Actually this is complicated because you are working in two different countries. I would take advice from an accountant in your home country and in Belgium to clarify. I agree with you that you don't need to tax all of this in Belgium. You need to declare this income in your home country and it is quite possible that they might enquire how many days you spent in Belgium. In Germany I had to enter the number of days I was in Switzerland when I was working there, but returning to Germany most weekends.

Cross border working gets a bit messy tax wise. To avoid any bother from either tax authority you tax the proportion of work you do in both countries, messy I know, which is why I would advise getting advice in both countries. I have had two contracts in the past where the work was split between two countries, in this case UK and Luxembourg. I had to keep travel docs, but it enabled me to pay NI in the UK.

[BenK]

experience with a UK Ltd Co & paying tax in Belgium

Hi,
thanks for all the replies. In fact I have been resident in Spain for many years and use a local Ltd Co. to do my contracting both in Spain and abroad. So I am sure same principles apply if it is UK or Spanish Ltd Co. I also have a UK Ltd Co.

So can I use my Ltd Co to work in Belgium?; I am not clear on this one. What sort of return do I make for the Belgium income? In this scenario do I also have to be registered as self-employed in Belgium or is it enough to fill out the Limosa agreement along with details of my company? I pay myself a salary from my local company..

All help appreciated. (And I have reviewed some of the other posts and even tried to work my way through the Belgium government's web site!)

[Boo]

So can I use my Ltd Co to work in Belgium?; I am not clear on this one. What sort of return do I make for the Belgium income? In this scenario do I also have to be registered as self-employed in Belgium or is it enough to fill out the Limosa agreement along with details of my company? I pay myself a salary from my local company..

You can use your Spanish Co. just as I used my UK Co. in Belgium. From your original post it seems you will always work under the 183 day rule and if this is true you need not fill in any Belgian tax forms.

You will not be sent a Belgian tax form if you do not have a residence there. If you stay for less then 3 days each week then a Bed & Breakfast will be more cost-effective than a flat anyway and will mean that you don't have a residence and don't need to register at the local commune. Because of this the Belgian Tax Authorities will not send you a tax return.

You will need to register on Limosa but AIUI this will not result in you being sent a tax return, I did and they didn't send me one.

It is most important that you keep proofs of your travelling days and receipts etc proving that you are out of the country when you say you are. And also that you don't put down roots there like buying a flat or registering your car there either, or moving your family out to stay with you.

Best of luck,

Boo2