Tools for Contracting Abroad
Nine calculators for UK contractors weighing up an overseas contract. Confirm whether you are still UK tax resident, compare net pay across Europe, work out which country taxes what, then jump straight to a take-home estimate for any of six European destinations.
Part of the full contractor calculator suite. Looking for guides rather than tools? Visit the Overseas Contracting Guides hub.
The three questions every overseas contractor asks
Work through them in orderWill HMRC still treat me as UK tax resident?
Residence drives everything else. It determines whether HMRC taxes your worldwide income or only your UK-source income, and it changes how every treaty article applies. Run the Statutory Residence Test first. If you are within five days of an SRT threshold, get a formal opinion before signing anything.
UK Tax Residency Calculator → The Statutory Residence Test: automatic overseas and automatic UK tests, then the five sufficient ties, for leavers and arrivers. Open calculatorWhat will I actually keep in each country?
The gross day rate is rarely the deciding factor. Germany's high social security or Spain's autónomo flat fee can swing the answer by tens of thousands of pounds a year. Toggle between local employee (umbrella or contractor-of-record) and local self-employed: the structural difference often matters more than the headline rate.
UK vs Europe Take-Home Compare → One day rate across seven jurisdictions — the UK on 2026/27 figures plus six European destinations — with an employee / self-employed toggle and an FX conversion. Compare take-homeWhich country gets to tax what?
If both the UK and your host country claim taxing rights, the relevant double tax treaty decides who comes first and what credit you can claim. This is also where to spot the 183-day rule position and permanent establishment risk before either becomes expensive.
Double Tax Treaty Estimator → Allocates taxing rights across 20 treaty partners using the business profits, dividend, interest, royalty and employment income articles, and tests the 183-day condition. Estimate treaty allocationThe numbers behind every overseas contract
Working as a UK contractor overseas is one of the most lucrative moves available, and one of the most complicated. Tax residence, double tax treaties, permanent establishment risk, social security totalisation and currency exchange all eat into a foreign day rate long before the money reaches your bank account.
The tools on this page are built around the three questions above: am I still UK tax resident, what will I keep in each country, and who taxes what? Each one runs entirely in your browser. For the editorial side — country-specific guides, the Statutory Residence Test in detail, visas, IR35 overseas and 50+ further articles — head to our Overseas Contracting Guides hub.
Jump straight to a take-home estimate for any of the six European destinations modelled in the UK vs Europe Take-Home Compare. Each one runs national income tax brackets, mandatory social security and the employee or self-employed toggle, so you can see what your day rate is actually worth on the ground.
About the non-UK figures above. Each card repeats the tax year the linked country calculator itself states — 2025 for Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain; the France calculator states no year, so none is shown. Source for each: the linked calculator. Foreign rates sit outside ContractorUK's UK rates sheet, so they have not been re-verified against 2026 local law — check them with a local adviser before you rely on them. The UK baseline in every tool on this page is 2026/27.
The UK side of the sum — 2026/27Wherever you work, the UK half of the calculation is fixed by UK law, and every tool on this page runs it on 2026/27 figures. If you stay UK tax resident, this is the ladder your income climbs at home.
| UK figure | 2026/27 | 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|
| Personal allowance | £12,570 | £12,570 |
| Higher rate threshold | £50,270 | £50,270 |
| Employee National Insurance | 8%, then 2% above £50,270 | 8%, then 2% |
| Employer National Insurance | 15% above £5,000 | 15% above £5,000 |
| Dividend tax — ordinary / upper / additional | 10.75% / 35.75% / 39.35% | 8.75% / 33.75% / 39.35% |
| Dividend allowance | £500 | £500 |
| Corporation tax — small / main | 19% / 25% | 19% / 25% |
| VAT registration threshold | £90,000 | £90,000 |
England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Income tax thresholds are frozen to 5 April 2031. Corporation tax marginal relief applies between £50,000 and £250,000 of augmented profits. Scotland sets its own bands on non-savings income; dividends are reserved, so a Scottish taxpayer pays the same 10.75% / 35.75% / 39.35%.
Most expensive overseas contractor mistakes come from missing a structural risk before the contract is signed. The calculators above surface the three most common ones; the wider list below is worth knowing before you commit.
- Permanent establishment risk. Long site-based assignments, or running a UK office from abroad, can create a PE and trigger local corporate tax exposure with no contractor-friendly opt-out.
- The "economic employer" trap. The 183-day rule looks simple until the host tax authority decides your overseas client, not your UK umbrella, is the real employer.
- IR35 does not disappear at the border. If you remain UK tax resident the off-payroll rules continue to apply, even with the work performed abroad. And from 6 April 2026 a UK umbrella supply chain carries joint and several liability for PAYE the umbrella fails to pay — which matters if your overseas assignment is routed through one.
- Social security totalisation. Without an A1 or a Certificate of Coverage you can end up paying social security in two countries at once, and getting nothing back for it.
- VAT registration thresholds. Post-Brexit, UK companies selling services into the EU face a patchwork of rules, and your accountant and your client may disagree on the treatment. The UK registration threshold itself is £90,000 for 2026/27, on a rolling 12 months.
- Currency margin. A bank FX spread of around 3% on a typical contractor's annual income works out at roughly £4,000 to £8,000 a year — invisible on a statement and largely avoidable. Treat that as an order of magnitude only: it is an illustrative range carrying no source and no date, so check your own provider's actual spread.
Need help with international contractor tax?
These calculators are estimates only. For binding advice on residence, your treaty position or a specific overseas assignment, speak to a qualified international accountant.
Find a contractor accountant →Each calculator has a deeper editorial guide behind it. Read these alongside the tools for the context, edge cases and "what the numbers don't tell you" a calculator cannot show. For the full library of 50+ overseas contracting guides, including all 32 country-specific articles, visit the Overseas Contracting Guides hub.
Common questions about the calculators themselves — accuracy, scope, privacy and which one to run first. Broader questions about visas, VAT, IR35, insurance and country-by-country rules are covered on the Overseas Contracting Guides hub.
How accurate are these calculators?
They produce indicative estimates only, and are designed for a first-pass "is this contract worth pursuing?" decision rather than as a substitute for advice. The UK side runs on 2026/27 figures. The European side uses the headline income tax brackets and main social security rates each country calculator carries, for the year that calculator states — 2025 for Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, and no stated year for France. Those foreign figures have not been re-verified against 2026 local law. Nothing here models regional surcharges, church tax, married or family allowances, every expat regime, autónomo flat fees or every available deduction. Expect the numbers to be within a few percentage points of reality for a typical solo contractor, and always confirm with a qualified international accountant before signing.
Does my data leave my browser?
No. Every calculation runs locally in your browser using JavaScript — no day rate, day count, country selection or tax figure is sent to a ContractorUK server or to any third party. There are no logins, no email gates, and nothing is saved between sessions unless your own browser autofills it. You can verify this by opening developer tools, switching to the Network tab, and watching the tools run with zero outbound requests.
Which calculator should I run first?
Start with the UK Statutory Residence Test counter. Whether you are UK tax resident determines everything else — which country has primary taxing rights, whether the treaty estimator applies as a tie-breaker, and how the UK vs Europe take-home compare should be read. Once residence is settled, run the take-home compare to pick a destination, then use the treaty estimator to confirm which country actually taxes the income.
What's the 183-day rule, and why doesn't it always work?
The "183-day rule" is the most over-quoted and least useful idea in cross-border contracting. It comes from the employment income article of the OECD Model Tax Convention (article 15 in the Model as published by the OECD), and it only applies when all three conditions are met: under 183 days in the host country, the employer is not resident in the host country, and the cost is not borne by a permanent establishment in the host country. For a contractor invoicing a foreign client directly through their own company, conditions two and three almost always fail. Use the double tax treaty estimator for a realistic allocation rather than relying on the shorthand, and read the actual UK treaty with your host country — article numbering and wording vary from the Model.
Why aren't more countries modelled in the take-home compare?
The compare focuses on the six European destinations that account for the overwhelming majority of UK contractor enquiries — France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain — plus the UK baseline, which is seven jurisdictions in total. Adding a country properly means modelling its income tax brackets, its mandatory social security, any contractor-specific regime such as autónomo, Freiberufler or a BV, and at least one expat scheme: a lot of moving parts to keep accurate year to year. For Switzerland, Dubai, Singapore, Belgium and 20+ others, the editorial guides at the Overseas Contracting Guides hub give the indicative picture in narrative form.
Do the calculators tell me whether IR35 applies?
No — IR35 is a status determination, not an arithmetic problem, and these tools deliberately stay out of it. The off-payroll rules continue to apply to UK tax residents wherever they physically deliver the work, and some EU agencies have begun deeming all personal service companies blanket-inside. From 6 April 2026 a UK umbrella supply chain also carries joint and several liability for unpaid PAYE, though that changes who HMRC can pursue rather than any worker's take-home. The take-home compare assumes you are operating compliantly under whichever local structure applies. For the rules themselves see the IR35 hub; for IR35 in an overseas context, see the overseas guides hub.
Specialist international contractor accountants
Cross-border tax is where mistakes are most expensive. Browse accountants with international contracting experience.
Browse the directory →These tools provide indicative arithmetic only and are not financial, tax or legal advice. International contractor tax depends on facts and circumstances, treaty interpretation, MLI modifications and local registration. UK figures are verified against HMRC publications for 2026/27; figures for other countries are those stated by each individual calculator and are not re-verified here. Verify with HMRC guidance on foreign income, or with a qualified international contractor accountant, before signing an overseas contract or filing a return.