Employing a non-uk citizen

**Brussels Slumdog** · 10 May 2014, 17:44

Originally posted by Thenormal1 View Post

Hi There,
I am the director of a UK Ltd company, contracting myself mainly to banks. I am currently travelling with my partner as I have remote access and we intend to travel for the next 12 months. She is a New Zealand citizen and has no right to work in the UK. Can I employ her and pay her into a New Zealand bank account? I am struggling to find employment laws on this matter.

Hope you can help.

TN1

How much are you going to pay her and what skills does she have. If you have a child I suppose you could employ her as an au pair !

**Scruff** · 10 May 2014, 18:03

She could always apply for a Working Holiday Visa.

You cannot employ her.

That was a quick one, innit?

**ASB** · 10 May 2014, 19:13

You can employ her. What you cant do is employ her in the uk or to do work in the uk. You can pay her where on earth you like.

of course what you actually do wilk have a significant bearing on the outcome taxes and all that mundane stuff.

since you dont give any indication of what you are trying to do it is obviously impossible to have any idea of whether you will meet the unknown objectives. Though I can guess.

**BlasterBates** · 10 May 2014, 19:50

Employing people overseas - tax and social security considerations | HRZone

According to the above link no problem. There is no PAYE as they're not in the UK. Just pay them gross and they declare that wherever they're based.

**Thenormal1** · 11 May 2014, 17:29

Originally posted by BlasterBates View Post

Employing people overseas - tax and social security considerations | HRZone

According to the above link no problem. There is no PAYE as they're not in the UK. Just pay them gross and they declare that wherever they're based.

Thank you this it has been very helpful

**ASB** · 12 May 2014, 12:31

Just because yor partner has no right to work in the uk does not mean we won't want tax on her income.

Have a look at the statutory resident test. She is probably uk resident for tax purposes. Thus uk tax on worldwide income.

However she may still be domiciled in nz; is so she could elect to be taxed on a remittance basis which might be beneficial.

The statement not in uk - no uk tax is a gross oversimplification.

**Scruff** · 12 May 2014, 13:36

You want to employ your girlfriend, who is not a UK Citizen, and has no right to work in the UK by your UK Limited Company?

Does she do any work for your UK Company?
Does your UK Company conduct any business abroad?
Is your UK Company registered as an Employer in the countries outside the UK where it does business?

The questions that will be asked, should it come into question would be the above.

I would be careful, if my reading between the lines is correct, as to the intention.

**Wanderer** · 12 May 2014, 18:50

What about making her a shareholder and paying her a dividend?

**TheCyclingProgrammer** · 12 May 2014, 18:52

Originally posted by Wanderer View Post

What about making her a shareholder and paying her a dividend?

Sidesteps employment law issues, but still opens up potential settlements issues (not a given, but a risk) and you still need to figure out where and how the dividend income is taxed.

OP: what is your partner doing for the business? You can't really pay somebody a salary if they aren't doing any work (well you can, but it wouldn't be an allowable deduction for corporation tax).

Employing a non-uk citizen