First Contract Legal Advice for a Nrwbie, Spoiler its an International one

[mooshld]

Hi,

I have just won my first contract starting in a month in Luxemboug, I thought it would now simply be a case of choosing an umbrella company or a Limited company getting an accountant and getting to work. How wrong I was. Every person I have spoken to has a different idea about what is legal and seems to think everyone else is not. I can't seem to get any good independent advice. Outlined below is my situation if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

The contract is for 4 months in Luxembourg where I will work 5 days a week on site.
Every second weekend I intend to come home and visit the misses, alternating weeks she will come out and visit me.
I am hoping at the end of the 4 months I will get an extension, if I do I will probably move with my wife out to France and commute across the border to work.
I currently live in the UK and have spent the first 2 months of this year in the UK completely.
I pay all the travel costs of this contract.
It is highly unlikely that I will spend 183 days in any country this year will probably be split between UK, Luxemburg, France and some other holiday destinations.
I own a home in the UK, but if we moved to France I would sell this obviously.

So far I have been offered the following with approximate retention
Standard UK Umbrella 65%
Isle of Mann Umbrella 85% (Darwinpay, I believe this is may be to do with one of those BN66 schemes)
UK Limited Company 78%
Swiss Umbrella that pays tax in Switzerland and Social security in Spain 70% (Capital consulting)
Cyprus based Umbrella that has not yet explained what it does 77%
I am waiting to speak to a Luxembourg based accountant but he seems keen on pushing me through some uk company called Claremont Consulting

I have trawled through all the guides and most of the forums and feel no closer to knowing what I should be doing here. I don't understand why its so complex, when I worked for a Blue Chip consultancy firm I was once sent to Ireland for 9 months 5 days of the week coming home every weekend and there were no tax implications that I was ever aware of. Why would this not be the same working for my own Limited Company? I want to be compliant but it seems that no one is sure what I need to do this.

Finally if I just moved to France and setup there for a year would this simplify the situation?

Thanks for any advice

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

At the moment I assume you are tax resident in the UK and therefore that is where the tax on your earnings should be payable on such a short contract; a Limited Company would net you a higher return if your contract is outside IR35 (loads of advice on this site), an umbrella company would be an easy option if you haven't contracted before - for all other options please read thread BN66 at the top of this page

[mooshld]

At the moment I assume you are tax resident in the UK and therefore that is where the tax on your earnings should be payable on such a short contract; a Limited Company would net you a higher return if your contract is outside IR35 (loads of advice on this site), an umbrella company would be an easy option if you haven't contracted before - for all other options please read thread BN66 at the top of this page

Yes I am a tax resident in the UK and I have read through the IR35 advice on this site I believe that the contract falls outside this.The contract is with an agency in the UK with the client being an agency in Luxembourg, who is a supplier to the end client whose site I would work on.

I was all set on the limited company route until I was told that it would be illegal. As I would be working in Luxembourg so the money would be earned there, even though I am the 4th link in the chain. I can't get my head around that, and can't understand how that could be true, how then would any business send an employee overseas ever to do work. In my current permy role I travel all over europe and the US and have never had an issue I just pay tax where I earn a salary.

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Yes I am a tax resident in the UK and I have read through the IR35 advice on this site I believe that the contract falls outside this.The contract is with an agency in the UK with the client being an agency in Luxembourg, who is a supplier to the end client whose site I would work on.

I was all set on the limited company route until I was told that it would be illegal. As I would be working in Luxembourg so the money would be earned there, even though I am the 4th link in the chain. I can't get my head around that, and can't understand how that could be true, how then would any business send an employee overseas ever to do work. In my current permy role I travel all over europe and the US and have never had an issue I just pay tax where I earn a salary.

Who told you that it would be illegal? And what was their reasoning?