Engaging a remote (EU) worker

[Mal]

Hi,

I am trying to engage a remote worker from EU to do some work for my ltd. Accountant advises I cannot employ them without PAYE, which they cannot get without a visa (they don't have a worker visa). They're not self employed/business either so B2B won't really work. Is there a way to legally employ them or do I just treat it as an expense and ask them for receipt for the hours they do?

[ladymuck]

Anyone can be self-employed, it's an arrangement they have to make with their local tax office. Here in the UK, you write to HMRC and say "I'm self employed" and then you get asked to fill in a SATR each year. I'm pretty sure most other countries have similar arrangements.

Therefore, they can invoice you for the work they're doing and you pay them at whatever the agreed rate is. No employment necessary.

Make sure you have a watertight contract that makes it clear they are responsible for settling their tax liabilities in their home country.

[dsc]

Well it's either PAYE or B2B, how else would you engage them? if they charge money, then they need to pay taxes on that and this requires some sort of arrangement, unless they go all guerrilla and pocket everything and you do a similar thing where you just give them some cash via PayPal and call it a day (not exactly legal of course).

[Lance]

Well it's either PAYE or B2B, how else would you engage them? if they charge money, then they need to pay taxes on that and this requires some sort of arrangement, unless they go all guerrilla and pocket everything and you do a similar thing where you just give them some cash via PayPal and call it a day (not exactly legal of course).

neither is it illegal though.
Claiming CT relief on it wouldn't be such a good idea without a paper trail though. So a sensible option would to be pay personally for it, and accept that there won't be any tax benefit for it. That way all the legal/tax problems belong to the subbie.

[eek]

Well it's either PAYE or B2B, how else would you engage them? if they charge money, then they need to pay taxes on that and this requires some sort of arrangement, unless they go all guerrilla and pocket everything and you do a similar thing where you just give them some cash via PayPal and call it a day (not exactly legal of course).

Paying someone abroad via PayPal is perfectly legal and Legitimate provided you have the correct paper trail - I.e. and invoice from them.

Ir35 is only an issue if the worker is in the UK and even then as a small / micro company the decision is one for the worker to make.

[dsc]

neither is it illegal though.
Claiming CT relief on it wouldn't be such a good idea without a paper trail though. So a sensible option would to be pay personally for it, and accept that there won't be any tax benefit for it. That way all the legal/tax problems belong to the subbie.

The legality bit was me referring to the chap on the other end pocketing all the money and never paying any tax on it.

[escapeUK]

Get rid of that useless accountant, he has no clue.

Get the remote worker to invoice you for time spent, put it through the accounts as an expense, just as you would any expense. Think about a simple contract or sending him a purchase order with some terms on.

Surely this should go without saying, but what he does at his end with taxation is absolutely nothing to do with you.

[WTFH]

Hi,
I am trying to engage a remote worker from EU to do some work for my ltd.

What do you mean by “engage”? Are you looking to get a remote contractor to do some work for you, or are you looking to employ someone?

Accountant advises I cannot employ them without PAYE, which they cannot get without a visa (they don't have a worker visa).

Your accountant is correct, you cannot “employ” someone without it being done properly.

It may help if you ask the correct question, or use unambiguous terms.
If you asked your accountant about taking on an employee who would be employed by you, then that is different to asking about taking on an external contractor.
As dsc put it, it’s either PAYE (an employee) or B2B (an external contractor).