Reply to: Remote contract for Irish (RoI) client

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

So do I still charge the Irish agency 20% VAT?

No, as I just said, if you are invoicing an Irish agency its outside the scope of UK VAT.

You do not charge VAT, you should mention on the invoice that this a reverse charge supply. The Irish agency accounts for the VAT. You'll also need to complete an EC sales list. If you're on the FRS you do not include this in your flat rate turnover.

If it's a UK agency then you charge VAT as normal.

[Scotchpie]

You pay tax in the UK. The agency should not be "taking care of Irish tax" as YourCo or you have no Irish tax liability. Make sure they aren't withholding anything.

The only tax liability that shifts is the VAT - its outside the scope of UK VAT and the agency should deal with the VAT in Ireland under the reverse charge rules.

So do I still charge the Irish agency 20% VAT?

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

You pay tax in the UK. The agency should not be "taking care of Irish tax" as YourCo or you have no Irish tax liability. Make sure they aren't withholding anything.

The only tax liability that shifts is the VAT - its outside the scope of UK VAT and the agency should deal with the VAT in Ireland under the reverse charge rules.

[stek]

Well the Irish agency says it is happy to deal with a UK Ltd with payments made using a TransferWise Borderless account. I invoice via their online portal.

Just do that until your physical location changes to another tax regime.

Cater Allen do Euro accounts but the fact is somewhere down the line you'll have to convert it, I'm in Ireland, paid into my Irish bank, I use Transferwise (not Borderless) to transfer what I need to UK account to pay bills there. Having worked in EU for last few contracts I'd advice you stick by these rules;

1. Pay tax where you physically do the work, from day one (with one of two exceptions)

2. Despite EU and FoM, there is no tax harmonisation, you need to follow, understand and abide by each on the ground.

3. Tax residence isn't the same as habitat residence, 9 time out of 10 you pay tax in two countries, DTA balancing off so you pay the highest rate.

[Scotchpie]

Well the Irish agency says it is happy to deal with a UK Ltd with payments made using a TransferWise Borderless account. I invoice via their online portal.

[stek]

Yes I'm looking at the Icon website now and its seems a good option. I'm also looking at Transferwise Borderless Account to receive funds.

My only worry is around who I pay tax to. Icon's website say they take care of Irish tax for me, but as the work is physically being done from my front room in the UK, I am UK tax resident not Irish tax resident and will I still owe something to HMRC?

If your physically working in uk forget the Irish bit, if the agents etc don’t get that then bin it, if you deal with incompetents some of their shiit will stick to you.

When you are required to physically be in Ireland do the legal stuff then.

The golden rule is tax is due where the work is done.

[Scotchpie]

Like I said before, there is no advantage to an Irish ltd, a The dividend concept doesn’t exist, go Director Umbrella, retention is better, money is urs from day one, no returns etc.

Yes I'm looking at the Icon website now and its seems a good option. I'm also looking at Transferwise Borderless Account to receive funds.

My only worry is around who I pay tax to. Icon's website say they take care of Irish tax for me, but as the work is physically being done from my front room in the UK, I am UK tax resident not Irish tax resident and will I still owe something to HMRC?

[stek]

Thank you all.

Just had a call from the agent. This is the first overseas contract they have arranged. They have partnered with an Irish agency who I will be invoicing and submitting my timesheets to.

Should the Irish account be set up in my UK Ltds name? In a few months when the dust settles I think I will go down the Irish Ltd route, maybe move there.

Andrew

Like I said before, there is no advantage to an Irish ltd, a The dividend concept doesn’t exist, go Director Umbrella, retention is better, money is urs from day one, no returns etc.

Everything is stupidly taxed and expensive here, don’t move for financial reasons, you’ll never make it pay.

Irish ripoff number 36; you have to pay for your kids school books, €600 per kid per year...

[SueEllen]

Thank you all.

Just had a call from the agent. This is the first overseas contract they have arranged. They have partnered with an Irish agency who I will be invoicing and submitting my timesheets to.

Should the Irish account be set up in my UK Ltds name? In a few months when the dust settles I think I will go down the Irish Ltd route, maybe move there.

Andrew

You've made even more complex now.

In the first incidence you are in the UK and should invoice as charging an EU client

When you move then sort the issue out.

[Scotchpie]

Thank you all.

Just had a call from the agent. This is the first overseas contract they have arranged. They have partnered with an Irish agency who I will be invoicing and submitting my timesheets to.

Should the Irish account be set up in my UK Ltds name? In a few months when the dust settles I think I will go down the Irish Ltd route, maybe move there.

Andrew

[TheFaQQer]

You could probably set up a euro account with the new borderless banking with Transferwise and it would satisfy them. But if not, I'd probably just open the account. It's a hassle, but a small matter in the larger scheme of things. If you've already agreed to work for euros and take the exchange rate risk, this is just one more thing.

I opened my EUR account with Revolut in under a minute via their app.

[rd409]

Thanks for all the advice. Interestingly I just received an email from the UK agency. I really think they are the ones stipulating the six months and not the client. They now say as I will be paid in Euros I need an Irish bank account which they will pay into.

"As the work you will be carrying out is based in Ireland we will need you to set up an Irish bank account so we can pay you into this account, makes sense as you will be paid in Euros .

Also the good news is as your initial contract is 6 months( less than 183 days) you can use your UK LTD company, anything after 6 months you will need to transfer to PAYE OR Umbrella company or Irish LTD Company."

I am in Dublin for three weeks to be introduced to the client, after that I am remote working from home in the UK.

So for three weeks I need an Irish bank account? Is the agency trying to cover themselves from paying double tax or something? I do get the impression this is the first non UK contract they have negotiated.

Cheers

No Need to set up an Irish company I guess. Just get a Euro account from Transferwise, and give that to the agency to pay in. Where you pay your tax should be determined by where you work and not by the agency. I work for Irish companies from UK and all the taxes are paid by UK ltd as advised by the accountant.

[stek]

You can be paid in Euros into a UK business bank account but you will lose out on the exchange rate if it is a pound sterling account.

There are lots of threads if you search on whether to get a Euro business account or not.

Agreed

The first time I worked in Ireland I did it all wrong, think I was losing about £75 per month in conversion fees and shiite exchange rate, flying in and out every weekend, car ferry sometimes, didn’t make much warchest on that gig...

[SueEllen]

You can be paid in Euros into a UK business bank account but you will lose out on the exchange rate if it is a pound sterling account.

There are lots of threads if you search on whether to get a Euro business account or not.

[BlasterBates]

The fact that you are working remotely in the UK means this is purely a UK business, really it should be taxed in the UK. I would visit an accountant and let him clarify this with HMRC, so you know where you stand. No point in doing a contract which puts you on the wrong side of the law.

You could think about commuting and working there, then it would be perfectly legitimate to tax your earnings in Ireland.