Does anyone have any experience of servicing US clients from the UK?

[DrStrange]

Looking at post-April options and one seems to be providing services to US based clients, from the UK via my UK Ltd.


I'm about to Do My Own Research but, well, you guys are full of this sort of knowledge (as well as sarcastic but generally good natured comments ) so I figured asking if anyone has any immediate pointers, tips, info etc. would be as good a start as any...

TIA!

[courtg9000]

Looking at post-April options and one seems to be providing services to US based clients, from the UK via my UK Ltd.


I'm about to Do My Own Research but, well, you guys are full of this sort of knowledge (as well as sarcastic but generally good natured comments ) so I figured asking if anyone has any immediate pointers, tips, info etc. would be as good a start as any...

TIA!

Obvious one. You will need a visa to set foot on US soil for business purposes. The process can be a pain in the bum. One to factor in if the client needs to be visited at any point in the US. A mate of mine has business interests in Boston and has issues with the US embassy at least once a year.

[Lance]

Does anyone have any experience of servicing US clients from the UK?

Obvious one. You will need a visa to set foot on US soil for business purposes. The process can be a pain in the bum. One to factor in if the client needs to be visited at any point in the US. A mate of mine has business interests in Boston and has issues with the US embassy at least once a year.

No you don’t.
An esta is sufficient for meetings.

[DrStrange]

I'm being told that everything would be remote so no need for visas etc. Just deliver, invoice and repeat.

All sounds a bit 'too good to be true' as apparently rates are higher as there's no VAT in UK to US B2B sales, and IR35 isn't even a consideration I'm told.

I'll see where this leads out of curiosity I guess but starting to suspect a scam of sorts, so not getting my hopes up...

[Lance]

I'm being told that everything would be remote so no need for visas etc. Just deliver, invoice and repeat.

All sounds a bit 'too good to be true' as apparently rates are higher as there's no VAT in UK to US B2B sales, and IR35 isn't even a consideration I'm told.

I'll see where this leads out of curiosity I guess but starting to suspect a scam of sorts, so not getting my hopes up...

No idea about VAT.
But ir35 is still a consideration, but entirely yours, now and after April.
Good thing is that if HMRC do come looking, they’re not going to get helpful information from the client.

[jamesbrown]

Obvious one. You will need a visa to set foot on US soil for business purposes. The process can be a pain in the bum. One to factor in if the client needs to be visited at any point in the US. A mate of mine has business interests in Boston and has issues with the US embassy at least once a year.

Nah. Only for productive work, not for meetings, contract negotiations etc. For productive work, you'll need an employment visa.

OP: I have a bunch of US and Canadian clients. What do you want to know, exactly?

IR35 applies as normal, but it would be pretty hard to be inside.

Yes, B2B supplies are outside of the scope of UK VAT under the general rule, unless one of the special (place of supply) rules applies. How does this make any difference?

Rates are better than UK rates IME, but you have foreign currency risk, unless you're billing in GBP.

[jamesbrown]

All sounds a bit 'too good to be true

I don't see how. To begin with, how are you going to get these contracts? Most US companies won't want to faff with UK contractors for general IT roles (assuming that's you), I wouldn't have thought. Anything they can source over there, they most likely will. It's pretty easy (at least historically, but less so under Trump) to secure cheap overseas IT workers on H1-B visas.

[northernladuk]

NLadyUK has plenty of experience servicing US clients in the UK.

Hope that helps.

[willendure]

Its sounds like an attractive option in many ways. My main question is how do find US customers for your services? I mainly find UK contract jobs through sites such as jobserve, or agencies I have worked through in the past. Where is the best place to look for contract opportunities in the US, that are not exclusive to US based workers?

[Lance]

Its sounds like an attractive option in many ways. My main question is how do find US customers for your services? I mainly find UK contract jobs through sites such as jobserve, or agencies I have worked through in the past. Where is the best place to look for contract opportunities in the US, that are not exclusive to US based workers?

There is no job board for this sort of work. Networking is th only way.
If a US client need to look overseas they go to India, phillipines, Africa etc.
They don’t look in the UK as it’s expensive (cheaper than US though).