Working in Ireland

[TBJ]

I live on Anglesey and obviously there is no local work. I have been thinking of working in Ireland specifically Dublin as is just under 2 hours on the ferry. I have a look on irishjobs and was contacted by a London agency, who said that I could not use my Ltd company in Ireland and would have to get an Irish bank account and use an Irish umbrella company!!
Is this true?

Anybody have any advice about working in Dublin?

Thanks

[TheDandy]

I live on Anglesey and obviously there is no local work. I have been thinking of working in Ireland specifically Dublin as is just under 2 hours on the ferry. I have a look on irishjobs and was contacted by a London agency, who said that I could not use my Ltd company in Ireland and would have to get an Irish bank account and use an Irish umbrella company!!
Is this true?

Anybody have any advice about working in Dublin?

Thanks

First piece of advice is don't take legal or tax advice from an Agent. The next piece of advice is not to take legal or tax advice from a bunch of contractors. You really need specialist advice. You can start by checking out the Irish tax authority websites, the HMRC websites regarding the A1 portable document. Also read the Double Taxation Agreement between the UK and Ireland. IANAL.

[TheFaQQer]

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

IT Contracting in Ireland - Living & Working :: Contractor UK

[TheFaQQer]

http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...d-ireland.html

has some decent info in it as well.

[Batcher]

First piece of advice is don't take legal or tax advice from an Agent. The next piece of advice is not to take legal or tax advice from a bunch of contractors. You really need specialist advice. You can start by checking out the Irish tax authority websites, the HMRC websites regarding the A1 portable document. Also read the Double Taxation Agreement between the UK and Ireland. IANAL.

+1

I worked in Dublin for a couple of months a few years ago. It all went through my Ltd as the agency was based in England so my invoices were to them. How they dealt with charging the ClientCo in Dublin I've no idea.

I do have clients in Ireland with my Plan B and as long as I put their VAT equivalent number on the invoice and let my accountant know then I don't charge VAT.

[supersteamer]

UK companies can operate in Ireland (including yours). You do however need to register with the Irish Revenue and operate PAYE for your employees working in Ireland (i.e. you). For contracts less than 183 days you can apply for an exemption from operating PAYE but you are still required to register. Not sure about the situation for longer contracts but beyond 183 days you'd be personally tax resident in Ireland anyway by that point.

I suggest you speak to an Irish accountant. UK accountants tend to be very woolly on other countries' tax systems (which is fair enough I suppose) unless you go to an international specialist.

I'd be wary of using an umbrella for a one-off contract as you'd not be able to claim travel expenses (which can be very high in Dublin) as it would constitute a permanent place of employment.

(Be interested to know what people generally do for long term non-UK contracts - i.e. 6-24 months - to be both tax compliant in the foreign state and also still being able to claim travel expenses....)

[TheDandy]

UK companies can operate in Ireland (including yours). You do however need to register with the Irish Revenue and operate PAYE for your employees working in Ireland (i.e. you). For contracts less than 183 days you can apply for an exemption from operating PAYE but you are still required to register. Not sure about the situation for longer contracts but beyond 183 days you'd be personally tax resident in Ireland anyway by that point.

I suggest you speak to an Irish accountant. UK accountants tend to be very woolly on other countries' tax systems (which is fair enough I suppose) unless you go to an international specialist.

I'd be wary of using an umbrella for a one-off contract as you'd not be able to claim travel expenses (which can be very high in Dublin) as it would constitute a permanent place of employment.

(Be interested to know what people generally do for long term non-UK contracts - i.e. 6-24 months - to be both tax compliant in the foreign state and also still being able to claim travel expenses....)

That's why he needs advice. The DTA doesn't require your limited co to operate PAYE in Ireland subject to the conditions in a number of the DTA articles. The key elements are Permanent Establishment, Employment Status, and number of days in the country. IANAL.

[Old Greg]

I live on Anglesey and obviously there is no local work. I have been thinking of working in Ireland specifically Dublin as is just under 2 hours on the ferry. I have a look on irishjobs and was contacted by a London agency, who said that I could not use my Ltd company in Ireland and would have to get an Irish bank account and use an Irish umbrella company!!
Is this true?

Anybody have any advice about working in Dublin?

Thanks

Have looked into this and from memory it's relatively easy to use UK Ltd for 1st 60 days or so that you're in Ireland.

But Anglesey is not "2 hours from Dublin". Do the door to door calculation, looking at the fast catamaran ferry times - have to arrive a bit before it leaves - and then onward transport from Dublin Port or Dun Laoghaire. Surely it's easier for Manchester / Warrington / Liverpool / Chester, although perhaps Dublin is a bigger market.

irishjobs.ie is pretty good but not comprehensive. Try indeed.ie and simplyhired.ie which trawl all the sites (but not always the minute or even day the ads are published so not a perfect option).

[TBJ]

Have looked into this and from memory it's relatively easy to use UK Ltd for 1st 60 days or so that you're in Ireland.

But Anglesey is not "2 hours from Dublin". Do the door to door calculation, looking at the fast catamaran ferry times - have to arrive a bit before it leaves - and then onward transport from Dublin Port or Dun Laoghaire. Surely it's easier for Manchester / Warrington / Liverpool / Chester, although perhaps Dublin is a bigger market.

irishjobs.ie is pretty good but not comprehensive. Try indeed.ie and simplyhired.ie which trawl all the sites (but not always the minute or even day the ads are published so not a perfect option).

Some good advice, many thanks

@Old Gred, You are correct of course, the catamaran does it in 1 hour 50 plus 1 hour to the port. So say 3 hours back to Holyhead.
Have you ever tried getting going down the A55 on a Friday after work? I don't think there is much in it between getting to Cemaes from Dublin or Manchester and there appears to be a lot more contracts in Dublin.

[Old Greg]

Some good advice, many thanks

@Old Gred, You are correct of course, the catamaran does it in 1 hour 50 plus 1 hour to the port. So say 3 hours back to Holyhead.
Have you ever tried getting going down the A55 on a Friday after work? I don't think there is much in it between getting to Cemaes from Dublin or Manchester and there appears to be a lot more contracts in Dublin.

Would you do the commute weekly or daily?