Salary package offer - Your opinion please!

[dimkat]

Good evening everyone.
Recently i got an offer from a european company located in Dubai.They offered me a UAE contract with duration of 18months for a project that will be held on behalf of a company located in UK.
This means that i am going to be employed with a UAE contract by the company in Dubai and get paid by the "customer" company located in UK.

I am 34yrs, i am an Electrical and Electronic Engineer and i also have an MSc in Telecomms and Computer Networks. Moeover i have 9yrs of experience in the telecomms and networking sector, i possess several vendors certifications such as Cisco,MCP and Huawei and currently i work in one of the biggest ISP company here in Greece.

So the offer that i would like to have your opinion is that one follows:
1.Basic Gross Salary of 18,089 AED/month (Shouldnt be tax free as it is a UAE contract!!!???)
2.Medical insurance (the contract states that i will be also entitled to participate at the 3Company’s expense in the Company’s private medical expenses insurance)
3.A repatriation Insurance covered by the company
4.End of service benefit of 1 month salary for each working year accordingly to the U.A.E Laws.
5.Sick leave and an Annual leave of 22 working days.

As you can notice no allowances are provided at all, like house allowances,car allowances etc.
That thing that really makes me a little bit confused is the fact that despite a UAE contract is offered to me, the contract clearly states that "The Employee will be responsible for paying all employee tax and social security payments".
Can you tell me if this is legal or not?. I thought that a UAE contract means generally a tax free income!. Am i wrong or not?.
Is it legal for someone to be offered a UAE contract , working in UK company and pay taxes as a UK citizen?. Is it againt the UK Laws for someone not to pay taxes even if a uae contract has been offered to him?.

I really would like to have your opinion if i have to say yes or no to this kind of little bit "strange" contract.
Please advice me in order to take my final decision.

[northernladuk]

18,089 AED = 3074.82 GBP. I don't know your sector and prices but even tax free I wouldn't get out of bed for that. I would presume they would arrange the currency conversion to suit themselves so will be even less than that to you in reality.

I have already worked out there though so benefit of working in Dubai doesn't do it for me. It is an amazing place if you have never been and maybe you would consider a lower rate just for 'the experience'. It is as hot as bloody hell in summer as well which I do not like personally.

Money wise my opinion is it isn't worth it. Only you know if it is worth it to you or how it relates to your industry.

If you are considering I would do some serious research as it sounds like a complex situation that could end up with you being paid peanuts.

[Fred Bloggs]

You'll starve, that's £3k a month. Have you looked how much it costs to live out there?

[SueEllen]

are provided at all, like house allowances,car allowances etc.
That thing that really makes me a little bit confused is the fact that despite a UAE contract is offered to me, the contract clearly states that "The Employee will be responsible for paying all employee tax and social security payments".
Can you tell me if this is legal or not?. I thought that a UAE contract means generally a tax free income!. Am i wrong or not?.
Is it legal for someone to be offered a UAE contract , working in UK company and pay taxes as a UK citizen?. Is it againt the UK Laws for someone not to pay taxes even if a uae contract has been offered to him?.

It's all perfectly legal.

Hector, our taxman, likes people paying him taxes and goes to great lengths to ensure he gets his money.

Plus tax law in the UK and most EU countries doesn't work on being a citizen it works on where you are tax resident and this is complicated especially with countries who don't like dual tax agreements.

[cojak]

It doesn't sound like a UAE contract to me, it sounds like a poorly paid fixed term UK contract with the location in the UAE.

Be very careful and get it checked by a company like Qdos who will explain things to you.

[d000hg]

You'll starve, that's £3k a month. Have you looked how much it costs to live out there?

For that rate I'd certainly want full accommodation provided.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Definitely do not consider that contract. Straight in the bin if you ask me. Only worth considering with housing and car allowance as well as 2 flight back home per year.

[Fred Bloggs]

For that rate I'd certainly want full accommodation provided.

I wouldn't do it even if it was full board provided. Many contracts in the UAE pay more than that just for acomodation alone. Only a 3rd world national would take such a role as this in my opinion.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Incidently how did you go about finding a role in the UAE? I would be interested in working there at some point in the next 12 months. Which sites are best to find the best roles out there?