working remotely for London company from Germany?

[darrenb]

I live in Germany, but it's been suggested that I work remotely for a London startup. I was wondering if anybody else has tried this, and which tax regime you fall under? I long ago abandoned the Ltd, and would rather stay as a German freelancer, but I'm not sure if the company and/or HMRC would accept this?

The problem I have is that in my specialty there's not much going on in Germany but a lot going on in London and California. But Germany is definitely a better place for me to live.

So any tips about working remotely from abroad would be much appreciated.

[jamesbrown]

If you're registered and paying taxes in Germany and don't plan to open a company in the UK or plan to become personally resident in the UK, I don't foresee any questions of residency or taxation in the UK (foreign companies invoice other foreign companies routinely, it's what companies do...). You'll just pay taxes in Germany, as usual. However, I'm not sure how German freelancers operate, but you seem to imply that it is not with a company structure. Unless you have a German company that can invoice the London client, I think this will be a non-starter. The company in London isn't going to take you on as a non-resident employee on their ordinary payroll (where tax is taken at source)....

[doodab]

You send them an invoice, they pay it the way they pay any other employer. You don't need a company, or to be employed, because you are self employed and in Germany that isn't an issue the way it is here.

[darrenb]

You send them an invoice, they pay it the way they pay any other employer. You don't need a company, or to be employed, because you are self employed and in Germany that isn't an issue the way it is here.

Thanks, that sounds like good news. Still a bit of an impedance mismatch though: not sure whether to give them a quote in Euros vs pounds, hourly rate vs daily rate. And the fact that we don't need a company structure in Germany could be confusing to them.

[jamesbrown]

Thanks, that sounds like good news. Still a bit of an impedance mismatch though: not sure whether to give them a quote in Euros vs pounds, hourly rate vs daily rate. And the fact that we don't need a company structure in Germany could be confusing to them.

It may not be an obstacle in Germany. However, you're dealing with a UK company, and I'd expect it could be an obstacle to them (off-payroll, invoicing as a "self-employed" individual).....

[scooterscot]

You send them an invoice, they pay it the way they pay any other employer. You don't need a company, or to be employed, because you are self employed and in Germany that isn't an issue the way it is here.

WHS -

I have a client in the UK also, I invoice them as an individual with my Deutsch vat number

[doodab]

It may not be an obstacle in Germany. However, you're dealing with a UK company, and I'd expect it could be an obstacle to them (off-payroll, invoicing as a "self-employed" individual).....

In which case they will need educating.

[scooterscot]

Thanks, that sounds like good news. Still a bit of an impedance mismatch though: not sure whether to give them a quote in Euros vs pounds, hourly rate vs daily rate. And the fact that we don't need a company structure in Germany could be confusing to them.

Depends on the length of the job.

I took on a retainer for 12 months, the client were very keen to use pounds, I was not. So they want something I don't, that means bargaining. So I told them if they would like me to charge pounds over this period the rate is this XXA rather than XXB in euros.

In the end they'd rather pay me more. I made that arrangement when the €/£ was around 1.25, now it's 1.16, so I'm still profiting from the arrangement. But that's one way to play it. Others might have a different approach.

[jamesbrown]

In which case they will need educating.

You can surely try Since it's a start-up, it may be straightforward....

[darmstadt]

Although not UK but USA, I did a 2 year stint and a 7 year stint doing work for an American firm while based here (in DE) and all I did was send them an invoice, in $, and it was paid into my account (except for one project where the payment was a cheque on a Las Vegas bank, which I just paid into my account as normal.) Paperwork is passed onto my Steuerberater and she just dealt with it all for me and never had any problems. I also used to put in various invoices and receipts in other currencies as I worked the whole EMEA spectrum and all was okay. UK companies though were always a bit of a problem as they couldn't get their heads around the way contractors work here.