Just for sh!ts and giggles. Netherlands €550/day Utrecht

[dang65]

Beware of contracting in Holland.

Yeah, I was wondering about that.

I've had an agent on the phone today going on about the great tax breaks in Holland.

I said that even if I go to work in Holland for a 6 month contract my main residence is still in the UK and my kids are at school here etc... I'll still be liable for UK tax and NI won't I? (Or the difference between UK and NL tax anyway.) He didn't seem to know, but I can't imagine HMRC allowing one to get away with it, any more than they would if one went to work in the Isle of Man for six months.

I don't see where this great Netherlands tax break comes in on short contracts, but maybe I've missed something?

[expat]

Utrecht.....no

I mean there are better places than Utrecht

Good I suppose you could live in Amsterdam. But don't forget the Netherlands is flat, ....very flat and miles to the nearest hill.

Personally it would drive me up the wall.

Well, each to his own opinion. I liked Utrecht a lot. Not all of the 250,000 population town, but the Museumkwartier that I frequented, with its canals, resturants, and (especially) cafes. And to my surprise I liked the Netherlands overall: and I'm a Scot who finds the south of England and the North of France too flat (in fact the south of Scotland too now I come to think of it); NL should have been unbearable but it wasn't.

[expat]

Yeah, I was wondering about that.

I've had an agent on the phone today going on about the great tax breaks in Holland.

I said that even if I go to work in Holland for a 6 month contract my main residence is still in the UK and my kids are at school here etc... I'll still be liable for UK tax and NI won't I? (Or the difference between UK and NL tax anyway.) He didn't seem to know, but I can't imagine HMRC allowing one to get away with it, any more than they would if one went to work in the Isle of Man for six months.

I don't see where this great Netherlands tax break comes in on short contracts, but maybe I've missed something?

I think the big point is that you've got a good tax break compared to the Dutch tax that you'd otherwise be paying. When it comes to 2 countries and a double taxation agreement, it can indeed be a waste of time to get a tax break in one of the countries because the other one will just take up the slack.

[darmstadt]

Not Cap Gemini is it? I stay at the Carlton when I'm there in Utrecht.

[expat]

Not Cap Gemini is it? I stay at the Carlton when I'm there in Utrecht.

I stay at the Karel V

[darmstadt]

Well, each to his own opinion. I liked Utrecht a lot. Not all of the 250,000 population town, but the Museumkwartier that I frequented, with its canals, resturants, and (especially) cafes.

Interestingly enough the knocking shops in Utrecht are on the canals

[ASB]

I'll still be liable for UK tax and NI won't I?

Depends on your individual circumstances but if you are UK domiciled you will be liable for UK tax on it in most circumstances. You will normally get credit for any dutch tax paid (so yes you normally simply end up paying the higher).

Also there can be some circumstances where DTAs don't help (don't know about the dutch one). as an example I personally had to pay a Portuguese tax on some income my company generated in Portugal (buggered if I know why I had to pay it not the company). I could not claim this against the companys CT. I couldn't claim relief on it against my personal income since that was not the same income (I probably could have done in the end but it was only a few hundred quid and the advice would probably have cost more so it wasn't worth it).

However the income has to be assessable under the UK regs. There are sometimes ways to avoid this, but you then need to ensure you are not UK resident when it is paid out - and also that where you happen to be resident when it is paid out will not be interested in it.

The NI rules are different. In theory you can elect to continue paying UK ni on the income, or Dutch.