Right of Substitution in European contacts

[SueEllen]

I wouldn't rely on interpreting a website. I would take advice from an accountant in the country you are working in. It is indeed true that in all countries you can work for up to 183 days provided the client is a UK based client. This is a rule adopted by all European countries, and probably the US as well. However if you are working on your own account at a client in the country (i.e. not contracted out to a UK company) then this rule generally does not apply. Therefore you have to be careful how you are interpreting the internet page, you can easily be misled into thinking it's not a problem. I have also read an internet page and quoted it at a tax inspector, and then he said "ah but" and quoted me a few more enlightening paragraphs that totally destroyed my argument, so do be careful

To be fair when I've worked abroad I did my own digging and unlike in the UK lots of countries make their tax regulations very easy to understand e.g. there are no loopholes.

That way if you screw up you cannot blame anyone else.

[BlasterBates]

To be fair when I've worked abroad I did my own digging and unlike in the UK lots of countries make their tax regulations very easy to understand e.g. there are no loopholes.

That way if you screw up you cannot blame anyone else.

I was reading the Swiss and German tax regulations and cross border tax is not simple anywhere. Both my German and Swiss tax advisers struggled trying to clarify where tax was payable. Though I agree with you you should also do your own research. Clarity will only come when you are communicating with a tax inspector. With regards to where you pay your tax on your contract earnings, it is strongly advisable to pay in the country you do the contract, as the other country will never question it. The other way round is quite different as we know from quite a number of posters who got it wrong in Germany. In other words running your Ltd and taxing it in the UK in a foreign country is akin to running around in a mine field.

[SueEllen]

I was reading the Swiss and German tax regulations and cross border tax is not simple anywhere. Both my German and Swiss tax advisers struggled trying to clarify where tax was payable. Though I agree with you you should also do your own research. Clarity will only come when you are communicating with a tax inspector. With regards to where you pay your tax on your contract earnings, it is strongly advisable to pay in the country you do the contract, as the other country will never question it. The other way round is quite different as we know from quite a number of posters who got it wrong in Germany. In other words running your Ltd and taxing it in the UK in a foreign country is akin to running around in a mine field.

I was presuming he was going to one of the Nordic countries or Ireland rather than Germany, France etc. Those countries tax pages are easy to understand. The difficulty arises, like with all countries, is if you fall inside the UK tax regime as well and the country doesn't use the employer of record model.

Oh and the OP needs to be very careful in counting the 183 days as in some EU countries it is a continuous period and buggering of for a weekend or a couple of weeks doesn't stop the clock.