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Brexit

Can you work in one country and live in another?

29 replies

Camomila · 30/07/2019 16:30

Just idly wandering (mainly based on the threat of no deal + how cheap nice flats are in my nearest 'naice' town in Italy)

Can/do people work from home for a British company while living in the EU?

I imagine if anyone would know it'd be the Brexit board. Although, I imagine everything will change post Brexit.

Awaits being told it's a legal/tax nightmare!

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Pinkprincess1978 · 30/07/2019 16:50

I have a friend who lives in Ireland but works in Northern Ireland.

Not sure how practical working in another country is with different currencies etc.

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MumApr18 · 30/07/2019 16:55

I'm sure it's just the same as working for a company owned in a different country - for example; I work for an American company, work from home in one part of the UK, the company has an office in another country in the UK.
There are some differences in HR policies from country to country, but that's about it really.

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Itwouldtakemuchmorethanthis · 30/07/2019 16:58

If you work remotely? We f course you could, why not?

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MaxNormal · 30/07/2019 17:00

Yes for sure. There are quite a few programming jobs advertised where the company is based in London and you just need to live somewhere in the EU.
And a former colleague works in Gibraltar but lives across the border in Spain as it's cheaper and nicer.

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Camomila · 30/07/2019 17:03

I was thinking about the PAYE/NI that gets taken out...I'd not want to pay that and pay the Italian version instead.

It's a bit of a pipe dream though as DH barely speaks any Italian. (My Italian is fine for day to day life but I'd struggle in a professional job)

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BogglesGoggles · 30/07/2019 17:04

This can definitely be done but can cause difficulties from a tax perspective both for employer and employee. If you work for a big organisation they might have a local office they can move you to?

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Abraid2 · 30/07/2019 17:05

If there’s no deal, how will you be able to live in the EU as easily?

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timeforakinderworld · 30/07/2019 17:08

It's definitely possible as I know people who do it but I think it is tricky tax wise - you probably have to pay tax in Italy too to have access to local and health services.

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timeforakinderworld · 30/07/2019 17:09

What do you mean by nearest town? Are you in Italy already? which town? Sorry being nosey!

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probstimeforanewname · 30/07/2019 17:14

The best option would be if your employer has an office in the country you want to live in and then they can pay you in local currency and if they say they are employing you, it can help get around the lack of freedom of movement for British citizens as well. I thought of this as well just after the referendum but my employer at the time didn't have an office in Germany (though they did in Austria).

As I freelance I could work anywhere. DH's employer does have offices in Germany. DS is about to start A levels. In theory we could potentially do it.

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MaxNormal · 30/07/2019 17:21

If there’s no deal, how will you be able to live in the EU as easily?

No Sad

We will have Third Country status. The residency requirements will be onerous.

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MaxNormal · 30/07/2019 17:22

@Abraid2 sorry, I missed the "how" in your post and answered what you didn't ask, apologies.

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Abraid2 · 30/07/2019 17:30

No problem!

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CatyaPurella · 30/07/2019 17:32

You may have to check with your employer as I worked somewhere where you had to live and work in the same country due to tax laws - ie you couldn't have a U.K. contract, be paid in GBP but work part of the time say in Germany

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Camomila · 30/07/2019 17:35

Sorry it was a bit of a confusing OP! I'm Italian living in England. I was thinking of the nearest town (Lecco) from my dads village (we lived in the village until I was 5 and came here).

Not actually planning to move unless things get really bad but if we did I'd have to get a job so DH could go over as a spouse. My written Italian isn't very good, which is what made me think about English speaking jobs but done from home.

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timeforakinderworld · 30/07/2019 20:28

Lecco is lovely!

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timeforakinderworld · 30/07/2019 20:30

Actually I think you can pass citizenship to your husband without a job - although obviously a job is useful for other reasons too!

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elizabethdraper · 30/07/2019 21:11

Lots of people in my office in the ROI, live in NI

so can be done

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Mistigri · 30/07/2019 22:17

Will depend on the country - but even if it is possible, given Brexit you might be better off going self-employed so that you are paying into the social security system of the country where you are resident. This will ensure access to health care etc after Brexit.

Best case scenario is that your current employer has a local office they can employ you through. This is how I am employed (work for U.K. company, report to a U.K. based manager, employed through the French subsidiary on a French employment contract).

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ChilliMum · 31/07/2019 07:48

Yes. We live in France near the Swiss border and lots of people work across the border.

If you have Italian citizenship then you should have no problem. I can only speak for our situation but tax situation takes a bit of work to set up but not too complicated as long as the 2 countries have a double tax agreement.

It might be worth looking (depending on your dh field) if your dh can set up as self employed and then contract his services remotely to a UK company??

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cherin · 31/07/2019 15:26

Italy and U.K. have a mutual agreement of single taxation on income, which is no linked to EU, so in principle you would not pay double tax on your salary, BUT let me remind you how high housing taxes and costs are in Italy...heating in winter is easily 200€/m (gas only) if you live in the north, all the bills are not expensive, if you don’t fill your tax return by yourself (which is way more complicated than with inland revenue) you’ll have to pay from 700 to 1800€/y of accountant. If you buy a property you have to fork out thousands for solicitor...all in all, it is not always as cheap as it looks.
Schools are in general good, not as complicated/competitive as getting a place in a decent school in a big town in England (no idea about other parts of U.K.) but you have to buy books and that’s easily 200€/y, afternoon clubs when available are all means tested and I don’t know how they’ll deal with someone with a foreign income...they might just decide they charge you the max (which might be 200€/m) and buonanotte ;-)

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cherin · 31/07/2019 15:27

Errate corrige: all the bills are MORE expensive

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BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 31/07/2019 15:32

I came say that plenty of people live in either RoI or NI and cross the border for work, so it's clearly possible. Whether that will become impossibly complicated after Brexit is one of many, many things that nobody knows.

I think the OP's hypothetical question is different as you would not physically be in the UK while you're working, so I suspect you would need to invoice the UK office for your work and pay Italian tax as a self-employed freelancer.

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Pineappleunder · 31/07/2019 15:34

In France you wouldn't be able to do this. You would be liable for social security in your country of residence so the UK company you worked for would need an umbrella company in France in order to pay your social security contributions.
Might be different in Italy though...

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Pineappleunder · 31/07/2019 15:36

Also here you can't be self employed but only working for one company and invoicing them as this is seen (quite rightly) as them evading their social security contributions.
If you had several UK based clients it is possible .

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