Lots of questions and a number of variables, depending on the specifics. But general responses:
1. There is nothing that stops you working overseas as an employee of your UK company
2. Yes there is no requirement for a director to be UK resident either literally or for tax purposes.
3. Where the money is paid is not the issue. Your personal tax position is determined by reference to your tax residency, whether UK, Canadian or both.
This is where it will get really complicated. Your tax position will depend on where you are tax resident and that will depend on the periods of time that you are in the UK, US and / or Canada. In the UK there is now a statutory residency test that will determine this based on the facts in the UK, there is probably a similar test for the US / Canada.
So far as Canada is concerned then you would need to understand their residency rules. They are likely to be very similar to the UK’s.
If you remained UK bound then your company would be able to claim the costs of you working abroad, and that’s just about all your costs of living and accommodation, travelling etc. Your suggested contract duration looks like you won’t have to consider the 24 month rule. You may want to look at the overseas benchmark scale rates as these can be generous.
Canada and the UK have tax agreements (called double tax treaties) these are intended to determine where income is taxable and normally avoid double taxation. You would need to consider your split of salary and dividends based on this and based upon the respective tax rates.
You have not said whether your wife is going to. If she is remaining in the UK making her a director will stop any discussion over Canadian residency for the company. You can also divert income to her to keep it wholly UK if that’s desirable.
Corp Tax and HMRC Filling
The company wont be effected and you will still be require to comply with all the normal UK filing issues. However there is the possibility that if you were Canadian Tax Resident and managed and controlled the company from Canada that the UK company could be considered tax resident in Canada. This is easily planned and managed.
Income Tax
Potentially yes. The UK company could be considered as operating in Canada and be required to comply with Canadian employment taxes.
Dividends
No. Dividends are just that dividends (although IR35 remains an issue to consider).
NIC
You may not be liable for UK NI. Your company will probably still be liable but at the level of salary and with the employers allowance its unlikely to be material to be worried about.
You may have NI issues (or a similar tax) in Canada. You most certainly will need to consider extensive medical insurance cover.
The point you are missing is that you need advice from a Canadian tax expert who can look at your position from the Canadian point of view and advise on what you and your company would need to consider. Only then will you have the full picture.
There are many issues to consider, how this affects you, your wife and your company and not just from a tax point of view. Your costs of travelling may be a real cost to you and make it financially not worth it, unless of course your costs are recharged to the client, or this is more a lifestyle choice and not entirely commercial.
Having a US client may make this more complicated, especially if you start spending time in the US. The IRS are a scary bunch, if you think HMRC are bad they are fairy god mothers by comparison.
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