Earning euros....

[scooterscot]

Just wondering if anyone here earning Euros makes use of an euro account in their business to that they can use that same euro business account [HSBC for example] to pay for expenses in euroland without transferring cash through the currency markets twice over.

My UK Ltd is about to engage a German client [Direct] and I'll have to charge them in Euros as their project is fixed to a euro amount.

So I was considering opening a HSBC account as I can switch my cash between euros and sterling and vice versa. But now I hear HMRC will have me declare any gain or loss as a profit or indeed a loss should the invoiced amount in Euros not match the sterling amount that lands in the bank on the rate of the day. Ideally I would like to keep a proportion of my cash in euros, but it sounds like more hassle than it's worth.

[Olly]

Nah it is easy when your accountant, after 4 or 5 tries manages to explain how it works.

You open a free Euro account and use it for free abroad...simples. N.B. You might have to pay for deposits, Cater Allen charge £7.50 or something like that.

You account expenses, invoices etc in GBP at the rate of the day from Oanda. I also accountanted EUR interest like this.

You move the Euros to GBP when you think the time is right.

In March the end of the financial year, you tot up all the ins and outs of your GBP account and look at the remaining balance. That's the profit (or loss) from currency transfer and you pay tax on that.

[scooterscot]

NB. If you're located in Germany for more than 183 days then things get tricky!

I'll be keeping count.

I trust any given day your foot is on German soil counts? i.e. I arrive on the 10:30pm flight the day before?

[Olly]

Yup...from what I understand..any part of a day counts as a full one.
Nobody's going to be watching you like a hawk, just don't take the piss.
So no German bank account, no rental contract, no registering etc etc.

[chef]

Yup...from what I understand..any part of a day counts as a full one.
Nobody's going to be watching you like a hawk, just don't take the piss.
So no German bank account, no rental contract, no registering etc etc.

correct, any part of 1 day on german soil is counted as a day, 183 days or more and you become tax resident here on your worldwide income.

agreed that if you want to stay off the radar then don't get a bank account, a rental contract or register as living here. Anyone of these 3 things require the other 2 in most cases and you will be in the system.

also, dont believe that they dont know how long you have been here and think that as long as you stay in hotels you can be here 9 months+ and get away with it. It's becoming increasingly normal that 1 single contractor is identified by obviously taking the piss, german hector then forces contractors client co to release names of all contrctors on their books along with contract start date. If you've been here >183 days from contract date and you're not on their radar as yet you can expect either a visit at work or a 7am knock at your door and your laptop and other documents to be confiscated and a short trip in the cell while they do this followed by tax demands, hefty fines etc.etc. They don't joke around. If you dont believe me search google for "toytown mr h", a classic case of the above statement.

[doodab]

They don't joke around. If you dont believe me search google for "toytown mr h", a classic case of the above statement.

Did you mean this?

http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t6208.html

[scooterscot]

The idea at present is to find a apartment after a couple of weeks in a hotel, that shall be the only expenses I have, which shall be paid through my UK business account.

I'm afforded some degree of flexibility with my client and after the first month of shaking hands getting to know the staff I should be only spending less than 50% of my time on site the reminder back home here in Edinburgh...

I'll be flying over on a Monday morning then and not a Sunday night!

[chef]

Did you mean this?

http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t6208.html

oops no

I mean't this thread, but I could have sworn it was on toytown and not here, ahh well, too busy to search for it

[scooterscot]

Does the 183 day rule have a start date or is it just any consecutive 365 days?