Advice please - overseas Ltd co contracting in UK

[eek]

One possibility would be if he stays offshore to do the work you need. And only comes to the UK for meetings. That way you simply pay a Hong Kong company for services delivered.

IANAITL

How can a site manager manage a site without physically being on it...

[Lance]

I'm currently PM on a construction project and am trying to engage a Site Manager contractor...

I have the ideal candidate who has just finished a contract in Singapore, and is available until Jan next year when he is committed to another project in South Africa.

This window of opportunity is ideal from my perspective, however his Ltd Co is based in Hong Kong.

My first thought is 'so what?' however am I running a risk with regard to tax liability if I engage him in this work.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

One possibility would be if he stays offshore to do the work you need. And only comes to the UK for meetings. That way you simply pay a Hong Kong company for services delivered.

IANAITL

[BlasterBates]

If the guy is only going to be in the UK for a few weeks he'll hardly be paying any tax, so he needn't worry. He is entitled to the tax free allowance and then goes on to the lowest rate of tax.

[Ramrod]

Thanks for the advice..

Although this guy seems ideal for the role, it's a relatively short contract and he's wriggling quite a lot to avoid setting up a UK Ltd Co or going umbrella...

I think from my point of view the risk outweighs the gain, so I'll pass..

[Sue B]

What Eek said.

The Offshore Employment Intermediaries Act includes foreign PSC's and therefore the host employer in the UK must ensure that UK Tax and NICs are correctly accounted for, either via direct PAYE, Umbrella PAYE Services, or UK PSC.

[eek]

I'm currently PM on a construction project and am trying to engage a Site Manager contractor...

I have the ideal candidate who has just finished a contract in Singapore, and is available until Jan next year when he is committed to another project in South Africa.

This window of opportunity is ideal from my perspective, however his Ltd Co is based in Hong Kong.

My first thought is 'so what?' however am I running a risk with regard to tax liability if I engage him in this work.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

If he is physically in the UK he needs to pay tax in the UK and you need to ensure that you've done your best to ensure he has paid that tax.

That means you can either

• employ him directly and pay the appropriate tax on his PAYE salary,
• suggest he uses an umbrella company or
• you pay a UK based limited company that he controls.

Whatever you do don't pay a foreign limited company as HMRC would have due cause to chase you for the tax he was due to pay (or worse depending on how they decide to calculate that tax).

[Ramrod]

I'm currently PM on a construction project and am trying to engage a Site Manager contractor...

I have the ideal candidate who has just finished a contract in Singapore, and is available until Jan next year when he is committed to another project in South Africa.

This window of opportunity is ideal from my perspective, however his Ltd Co is based in Hong Kong.

My first thought is 'so what?' however am I running a risk with regard to tax liability if I engage him in this work.

Any advice greatly appreciated.