Reply to: Moving to EU

[GhostofTarbera]

Go to France


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[NomadPanda]

Ireland Is an obvious choice but high tax and cost of living.

The contract market in Ireland has been , in 2019. Hiring freeze for most roles, not as bad for senior developers.
Higher taxes and cost of living in Dublin higher than London. No tax savings/wrappers, only way to accumulate wealth efficently is via principal private property which appears to be entering another bubble.

If you know of a European country that is contractor friendly, low to reasonable taxes and low to medium cost of living, do share and I'll be on the next flight .

[blackeyed]

Thanks for your reply everyone.
My manager has offered me extension here and agreed remote working (6 months with possible extensions, as long as i come for team nightouts

I asked my agency to pay me in Euros when I move to EU but they have said they will pay only to my local limited company here. Is there anyway I can work remotely (happy to pay tax to country where I move)

[Brussels Slumdog]

What European languages do you speak? Switzerland isn't in the EU, btw.

Even if you are a language geek like me, French German and Dutch B2/C1 level ,this doesn't mean that you could work on a IT project. I speak French at home but might be lost on a French SAP project.





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[darmstadt]

Most contracts in Germany now come under ANÜ which is similar to IR35 regardless if you're Freiberüfler or Selbständig, I turn them down as you're basically a disguised employee of the agency for a fixed term.

[Old Greg]

Ireland Is an obvious choice but high tax and cost of living.

[NotAllThere]

In Switzerland you pretty much will be forced to go on payroll. Sometimes you can choose a brolly, sometimes you're on agency payroll. Social contributions will be deducted from your fee, and you'll be taxed at source. How much you're taxed depends on which canton you live in. (If you ever become a permanent resident, then it depends on which community you live in). There is mandatory health insurance for residents. ~300-400 CHF a month depending on where you live, with no exclusion for preexisting conditions.

[BlasterBates]

Thanks mate. Is it not mandatory to pay NI in Germany? or working through an umbrella company by passes this. I read its 40% of the gross income ??
so for €100,000, 40K will go to NI and then ~29% goes to taxes giving me ~43K in hand.

Normally as a Freelancer ("Freiberufler") you wouldn't pay the German equivalent of National Insurance. Unlike in the UK German National Insurance is not a tax. There is a rule similar to IR35 in Germany, however this is not a problem if you have contracts for several months and you are not permanently resident in Germany.

There are umbrella companies that set you up as a "Freiberufler", or you can contact an accountant in Germany. Your agency will probably recommend one, the 71% he quotes sounds reasonable so get some information from them. You just need to make sure all your income is taxed in Germany and then there will be no problems.

The tax isn't in bands as in the UK so the proportion of tax to pay will go up with your income.

If you were to end up as an employee and not a "Freiberufler" then indeed it wouldn't be very attractive as you would be paying a lot of insurance including the mandatory health insurance. Your take home would be more like 50% perhaps even a bit less.

Actually I checked the tax again and the calculator shows 29,000 on an income 100,000.

I would get a quote from a reputable Umbrella before you decide.

When I was in Luxembourg and Switzerland my net income was around 65% .

[blackeyed]

Yes it is.

Income of EUR 100,000 the tax is around EUR 25,000 but there are other deductions, so 71% is about right.

You wouldn't be paying into their equivalent of National Insurance.

Thanks mate. Is it not mandatory to pay NI in Germany? or working through an umbrella company by passes this. I read its 40% of the gross income ??
so for €100,000, 40K will go to NI and then ~29% goes to taxes giving me ~43K in hand.

[Eirikur]

Yes it is.

Income of EUR 100,000 the tax is around EUR 25,000 but there are other deductions, so 71% is about right.

You wouldn't be paying into their equivalent of National Insurance.

Ok misread the post, thought he meant 71% tax, 71% in hand sounds about right

[BlasterBates]

Germany is not 71%

Yes it is.

Income of EUR 100,000 the tax is around EUR 25,000 but there are other deductions, so 71% is about right.

You wouldn't be paying into their equivalent of National Insurance.

[NotAllThere]

The good news is that Switzerland and the UK have an agreement already in place for what will happen post a hard-brexit. Currently, about 3000 brits come to Switzerland to live and work each year. The Swiss will make available 3000 work permits, specifically for UK citizens, every year.

It is possible to work in Switzerland only speaking English, but it will be seriously beneficial to have at least B1 German. (Most IT work is in German speaking Switzerland). Switzerland is very expensive to live in, and that's only partly ameliorated by low taxes and relatively high income.

[Eirikur]

Thanks a lot mate will have a look. Is it better to go through umbrella company?

Assuming you don't know the local tax systems, laws, language and pitfalls it is in many cases the only way to start contracting quickly in another country and to avoid later problems with especially the tax man
(a local version of a umbrella company that is, agencies often can recommend you some or work together with one or more)

[blackeyed]

start looking for tax calculators here's a German one for example: gross net tax calculator germany german wage tax calculator 2019 a salary of €120k will roughly give you €78k nett. so no way 71%
To avoid problem assume you will always be within the local version of IR35 and have to pay taxes like a local employee, in some cases you may have a special expat tax rate which will leave you better off

Thanks a lot mate will have a look. Is it better to go through umbrella company?

[Eirikur]

start looking for tax calculators here's a German one for example: gross net tax calculator germany german wage tax calculator 2019 a salary of €120k will roughly give you €78k nett. so no way 71%
To avoid problem assume you will always be within the local version of IR35 and have to pay taxes like a local employee, in some cases you may have a special expat tax rate which will leave you better off