Contracting for a UK company in Portugal

[Snoopey]

Hi OP, did you ever move to Portugal? In which case what situation did you end up in?
I'm now trying to figure out how to do the same thing.
I'm currently in full time employment as an IT consultant, serving my notice period, and planning to move to Portugal in November.
Would like to go contracting/freelancing for UK companies in my field.

Hoping to get on the lower tax Non Habitual Residence scheme too. Wondering what the most tax efficient/workable wrapper is for me.
What with IR35 changes coming up soon it's all a bit of a headache!

Would UK companies even be able to hire a freelancer in Portugal without becoming liable for Portuguese tax/social security?
Could I even be considered a freelancer in Portugal if I'm essentially working 9-5 for a UK company 6 months at a time?
Does IR35 apply here?
I'm assuming it's not a good idea to set up a UK Ltd company before I go, and would be considered by the Portuguese authorities to be a Portuguese company, so I'd lose out on the NHR favourable 0% tax rate on dividends and presumably one of the tax authorities would slap a big tax bill on at some point down the line.

[Fred Bloggs]

I would get local advice unless you plan on figuring it all out yourself.

Key is first to determine your tax residency jurisdiction. And it could be that you are tax resident in both potentially!

Very likely to be for at least a year or more. But it isn't necessarily such a big problem. I have been resident in three countries since July 2016 and I am now back in the UK. I had no problems really working through it myself using the HMRC guidelines and the TaxCalc software package for the annual SARs.

[Andrew@Wisteria]

Hi Fredd,

Would I need a Portuguese accountant to sort this out too alongside a British accountant?

I would get local advice unless you plan on figuring it all out yourself.

Key is first to determine your tax residency jurisdiction. And it could be that you are tax resident in both potentially!

[Sue B]

From the limited information given, I suspect the OP needs to be self employed in Portugal rather than an employee of a brolly. But, naturally, this is just a lay person's view.

I think so too, but we will see what we can do to help

[northernladyuk]

From the limited information given, I suspect the OP needs to be self employed in Portugal rather than an employee of a brolly. But, naturally, this is just a lay person's view.

Sue would give some honest advice of the options.

[jaulin]

From the limited information given, I suspect the OP needs to be self employed in Portugal rather than an employee of a brolly. But, naturally, this is just a lay person's view.

Hey, what further information should I provide? I'm a newbie to all of this! All advice is appreciated.

[Fred Bloggs]

Paging Sue@iPAYE.

From the limited information given, I suspect the OP needs to be self employed in Portugal rather than an employee of a brolly. But, naturally, this is just a lay person's view.

[northernladyuk]

Paging Sue@iPAYE.

[Fred Bloggs]

Hi Fredd,

Would I need a Portuguese accountant to sort this out too alongside a British accountant?

I cannot say. Myself, I have been resident in three jurisdictions including the UK. Using the information available from HMRC I have done my own tax affairs. You may not may not wish to do so. I imagine after the first year, you would be fine.

[jaulin]

Broadly, you pay tax where you work and you do not pay tax on the same money twice, generally. If you read the UK/Portugal Tax treaty you will understand this much better. It is actually not so difficult as you may first imagine.

Hi Fredd,

Would I need a Portuguese accountant to sort this out too alongside a British accountant?

[Fred Bloggs]

Broadly, you pay tax where you work and you do not pay tax on the same money twice, generally. If you read the UK/Portugal Tax treaty you will understand this much better. It is actually not so difficult as you may first imagine.

[jaulin]

Hello,

I am new to contracting and would like some advice.

My situation is:

• I am a UK citizen and my home is in the UK.
• I am working in London for a UK based company.
• I currently work full time as a Software Developer.
• With the same company, I am planning on moving from permanent to contracting as I hope to gradually cut my days shorter from 5 days, to 4 then to 3.
• However, depending on what is more easier, I can decide to stay as a permanent employee with the same company but in Portugal.
• They have no Portuguese branch. Their only branch is in London.
• I will be working remotely in Portugal as my partner is there.
• I hope to become a resident and make my home there.

Now my questions are:

• What steps should I take to make this happen?
• What things should I consider? What should I be aware of? Is this even possible to do? Is it hard to do? - I keep running into unknown things. I thought working remotely abroad would be simple but there's a lot of hurdles to get through. For example, I just found out I need to pay taxes in two countries and to see whether my employer will and can pay taxes to abroad. So this is what I'm asking if there is anything I should be aware of?
• Taxes and tax returns, documentation where and how in portugal
• What does my employer need from me and the umbrella company to make this work?
• How does my company file taxes to Portugal? Is this hard for them to do?
• Which umbrella companies do people use?
• Do I even need to go through the contracting route?