Implications of employee working from abroad?

Employee wants to work from abroad, what would be the implications if any?

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hi all hoping you can help

An employee who is currently working from home wants to visit various countries for multiple months of the year, returning to the UK periodically to stick within the 90/180 days rule for Schendgen countries.  Are there any implications to the business and where can I find further guidance?  I assume they will have to pay UK income tax as normal.  They won't be in any one country too long (but is there a duration limit which could effect the company?)  They will effectively be "on holiday" as they put it but with their laptop.

Thank you in advance

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By Matrix
06th Jan 2021 18:47

Are you the employee or the employer? I would get bespoke advice either way.

I don’t know how easy it will be to travel/work overseas now we have left the EU and can’t travel due to the pandemic. But sounds pretty good to be paid to holiday.

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Replying to Matrix:
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By Wannabe-Nomad
06th Jan 2021 20:50

It's not a holiday. I was simply setting the scene, i.e. the employee will be "working from home" but not in the UK, so they won't be working for another company abroad or for themselves but are fully employed by UK company. All customers are UK customers of the UK company. Where would I get bespoke advice for this?
Thanks

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Replying to Wannabe-Nomad:
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By Matrix
07th Jan 2021 07:57

You could start with your accountant but most are not great at cross border tax issues. Unless you know which countries then hard to get advice.

I would approach this from a legal/HR perspective. So put a contract in place with constraints on what the employee can or cannot do to protect and minimise tax and legal exposure for your business.

If he is selling then you may be subject to tax on profits in the country where he is selling, if he becomes tax resident then you could end up with local social security etc. If he is no longer resident in the UK then this will change his tax code but not your issue provided you run the UK payroll correctly.

There could be a lot of fees if a number of countries involved.

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Replying to Matrix:
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By Wannabe-Nomad
07th Jan 2021 12:36

The point of my question is to put in limitations so there would never be a requirement for the employee or employer to pay or interact with any tax authorities abroad. As said previously they will not be selling or purchasing or doing any sort of business abroad. They will simply be using their laptop to work for the company with UK customers. They will spend a limited time abroad so as not to become liable for taxes abroad and not effect their domicile status in the UK.
thanks for your help

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By tom123
07th Jan 2021 08:25

Sounds simple, but, at some point, things will catch up - and then the employer will be on the hook rather than the employee.

Wouldn't be keen to accept it myself (as an employer) no matter how 'easy' the employee might say things would be.

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