Contracting in the UK from EU

[eek]

Old client wants me back if we can figure out payment options.

Get a Wise account and that will give you a US bank account to make things easy for them

[lorakeen]

Get a Wise account and that will give you a US bank account to make things easy for them

i loved you so much

[m0n1k3r]

How in the hell am I supposed to contract in the UK now from Europe?
You've seen them. There's an unholy amount of remote contracts available from UK based companies.
Before Brexit, all I needed was a VAT number and all was peachy.

Now? I am supposed to either have my own UK Ltd or use an UK umbrella, and then pay tax on what's left after UK taxes on my NL Ltd?
I'm confused.

IR35 is entirely incompatible with remote working UNLESS remote working is restricted to within the UK. You would effectively be in breach of NL tax laws as you are supposed to pay your taxes entirely in NL if that's where you do your work from and don't set foot in the UK other than for an occasional business meeting.

But try talking to agencies or clients about this and you'll get a more intelligible response from a brick wall.

[m0n1k3r]

Fully remote within the UK, as no sane firm wants to enter the joys of international payroll tax issues unless they really have to...

They wouldn't have to. If there's a person based abroad working for a UK company then the tax matters becomes the responsibility of that person, not of the UK company. Same as a UK person working for a company abroad - the HMRC requires there to be a UK-resident person or entity operating PAYE, which can be the UK-resident person her/himself.

[eek]

IR35 is entirely incompatible with remote working UNLESS remote working is restricted to within the UK. You would effectively be in breach of NL tax laws as you are supposed to pay your taxes entirely in NL if that's where you do your work from and don't set foot in the UK other than for an occasional business meeting.

But try talking to agencies or clients about this and you'll get a more intelligible response from a brick wall.

The response is however, intelligent and rational from their point of view - they are recruiting someone who is in the UK (or at least is pretending to be) because the contract is inside IR35 and therefore the worker will be an employee...

[eek]

They wouldn't have to. If there's a person based abroad working for a UK company then the tax matters becomes the responsibility of that person, not of the UK company. Same as a UK person working for a company abroad - the HMRC requires there to be a UK-resident person or entity operating PAYE, which can be the UK-resident person her/himself.

Nope, your presence abroad could (and probably does in a lot of places) be enough to create a local subsidary.

This is an area a lot of companies are rightly paranoid about since Covid mades things easier (and way more complex).

[ComplianceLady]

Why would UK tax be a consideration? Contracting as a tax resident of somewhere else for a UK company is pretty straightforward if you use an international agency.

[NotAllThere]

Why would UK tax be a consideration? Contracting as a tax resident of somewhere else for a UK company is pretty straightforward if you use an international agency.

That's my view as well. Even B2B or a UK agency. But...

Agents want an easy life - which means a contract signed by a UK company...

If you want to sell work into the UK via your NL company, go direct and don't use Agents.

This. The only reason I managed to work remote for a UK company was because the hiring manager wanted me specifically, and the agent was happy to take a cut for doing doing. Even then, we had to change agencies once when the first got cold feet. With IR35 as it now, agents are ever more terrified.

[eek]

Why would UK tax be a consideration? Contracting as a tax resident of somewhere else for a UK company is pretty straightforward if you use an international agency.

Because as NotAllThere quoted me above, unless you the agency / end client wants YOU and only you there are other far easier options to choose from.

Just because it's possible doesn't mean people will be willing to accept the extra risk and hassle.

[ComplianceLady]

Right I see. If you find an Agency that does international contracting it's pretty straightforward - we do it in most EU countries for both employed solutions and freelance.

Because as NotAllThere quoted me above, unless you the agency / end client wants YOU and only you there are other far easier options to choose from.

Just because it's possible doesn't mean people will be willing to accept the extra risk and hassle.