Reply to: Contracting in Australia

[rocktronAMP]

Vatican City? Federated States of Micronesia?

Yes that was a stupid question, wasn't it? Of course, the HMRC's IR35 rule only applies to the United Kingdom, I do think some of you got gist of the question somewhat.


My question should have concisely been:

What countries [nation states] are there left in the world, which allow a person [private individual citizen] to have a personal services company (PSC) or equivalent and then contract through the PSC (LTD or equivalent) directly / indirectly with a client? Thereby, I assume if you have a PSC then you can legally claim business expenses: travel expenses, training courses, laptops and phones etc and then is taken as a tax deduction inside the docile. You can pay yourself as the sole employee of your PSC a dividend and take a small salary and also pay the equivalent corporation tax minus expenses. (Rich Dad, Poor Dad (or 2020/21 Rich Mum, Poor Mum*))

Notice: the slight emphasis on the phrase "left in the world", am I right to assume these list of countries are shrinking in size year on year? (Yes I did I read with some sadness the situation about contracting in Australia going forward)


I would laugh heartily to myself if Vatican City and Micronesia is on the favourable list, because I'm neither catholic nor polynesian. Ha!


*Diversity and all that

[mattster]

So, just to clarify, you want to go to Australia and find a local contract there? In which case I don't think your UK Ltd is going to be of much use. I worked in Aus for ten years, on and off, most of that as a contractor. Contracts were always through the agency, which also acted as an umbrella company - I never heard of people contracting through their own companies, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Back in the day, it was relatively easy to go down on any visa, get a job offer, then get sponsored on a 457. I did this on a tourist visa (not really supposed to look for work on a tourist visa, but no one seemed to care) back when the market was good (early 2000's), then had to return the UK to wait for my 457 to come through, then return to start work. The leave/return was only required to make sure I qualified for the Living Away From Home Allowance (LAHFA), which was quite lucrative at the time but, I believe, much harder to qualify for now. I also believe it is much harder than it was to get 457 sponsorship now than it was, due to the familiar reasons of not enough work, too many looking. Any added complications such as requiring sponsorship will likely put you straight to the back of the candidate queue.

My advice, FWIW, is if you are really keen on moving to Aus then apply for permanent migration from within the UK. This is relatively straightforward so long as you are young enough and have the required education/skills/experience. This way, you can turn up in Aus and do what you like - work in a bar if money is tight, whatever - without the risk of being deported if you lose your job, which is otherwise tied to your 457 visa (which you probably won't be able to get anyway, unless you have some very niche skills). I was working in Sydney through the GFC and I can tell you it was a rough time for a lot of expats on 457 visas, many of whom had brought their whole families with them, as they lost jobs and were given a month to get out of the country (that grace period is now three months, I think, but that still might not be long enough in some markets).

[ladymuck]

Vatican City? Federated States of Micronesia?

Bulgaria would be a decent bet

Mongolia? Bhutan?

[eek]

Vatican City? Federated States of Micronesia?

Bulgaria would be a decent bet

[northernladuk]

Hmmm

Which countries do not have "IR35"?

Vatican City? Federated States of Micronesia?

[rocktronAMP]

Yes they do, it's called. "Alienation of personal services for companies". It ostensibly is an Aussie IR35, but in large parts can be circumvented and got around by any decent account using completely legal process.

The same rules tend to apply, but I recall that the test for a customer is 2 years, so if you contact for 18months and then start another within the tax year, you can answer yes to multiple clients. This Info is based 2016, `I contracted for about 14 years in Oz, not a bad place to do it, but the Aussie IR35 as above was getting harder to get around each year.

Hmmm

Which countries do not have "IR35"?

[barely_pointless]

I did read that the Australians have an IR35 style tax setup for contractors. From reading, it was much more strict than the IR35 rules here. It was based on IR35 style taxes applying, if you do not have more than one customer.

Yes they do, it's called. "Alienation of personal services for companies". It ostensibly is an Aussie IR35, but in large parts can be circumvented and got around by any decent account using completely legal process.

The same rules tend to apply, but I recall that the test for a customer is 2 years, so if you contact for 18months and then start another within the tax year, you can answer yes to multiple clients. This Info is based 2016, `I contracted for about 14 years in Oz, not a bad place to do it, but the Aussie IR35 as above was getting harder to get around each year.

[caffeine man]

I did read that the Australians have an IR35 style tax setup for contractors. From reading, it was much more strict than the IR35 rules here. It was based on IR35 style taxes applying, if you do not have more than one customer.

[eek]

Apologies my initial question wasn't the clearest. I am contemplating moving over to Australia (COVID permitting) and wondered if it is possible set myself up as a limited company over there and obtain a business visa. Does anybody know if this is possible?

Ever heard of a site called google.

Start a business as a non-citizen | business.gov.au took me 2 seconds to find.

[aslicebrown]

Not very clear what you want - and not sure if this is still valid
https://www.contractoruk.com/forums/...-contract.html

Thank you for sending this thread

[aslicebrown]

Apologies my initial question wasn't the clearest. I am contemplating moving over to Australia (COVID permitting) and wondered if it is possible set myself up as a limited company over there and obtain a business visa. Does anybody know if this is possible?

[BlasterBates]

If you mean work remotely, then you will need to get a visa allowing you to work and register as self-employed or setup a company in Australia.

[saptastic]

Has anyone moved to Australia and done contracting from the UK? If so, were you able to go over on a business visa?

Not very clear what you want - and not sure if this is still valid
https://www.contractoruk.com/forums/...-contract.html

[ladymuck]

Sounds like you're planning a permanent move to Oz but won't be working for a local company but instead will expect to draw an income from the UK.

You'll have to check with an immigration specialist as the immigration website doesn't offer a visa for that scenario. You may want to look at the Skilled Independent visa if you're under 45 and have AUD4k to spend.

[Paralytic]

Has anyone moved to Australia and done contracting from the UK? If so, were you able to go over on a business visa?

What do you mean "move to Australia" and contract "from the UK"? Do you mean work for UK clients whilst living down under?

What have your investigations to date informed you?