AIBU not to provide a fake UK address for my friend?

[Bobbytwoshoes]

A friend of mine lived in the UK for many years, and has a job in the UK that allows her to work remotely. A couple of years ago she moved abroad (to an EU country), but has not told her employer this (as they would not be able to continue to employ her due to employment laws etc). She gave them a UK address that a friend of hers lived at, but now this friend is leaving and she’s asked if she can put my address instead.
I don’t feel comfortable with this as I don’t know the legal implications of this for me (obviously she is breaking the law, but that’s her decision) - she says it’s just her employer that would have this address, but presumably it’s also her bank and HMRC? It feels like this is a risky thing for me to do from a legal (and moral!) perspective.

Yes you are being unreasonable - you should help your friend out.

No you are not being unreasonable, it’s illegal, she shouldn’t be doing it, and you could get into trouble for helping her.

I would definitely not do this. It's just untruthful and I can see all sorts of problems arising from it. If you get any post addressed to her send it back as not known at this address. I would not put it past her to just do it.

Absolutely not. When we (law firm) were WFH during lockdown a couple of people went back to their home country to be with their families rather than living alone in London. It was identified very quickly from where they were logged in and they were told to come back pronto.

We've since merged with a global firm and there is more flexibility but there are still limits and it has to be requested and agreed. I'm amazed she's got away with it so far.

We have to use VPN in our work to be able to work remotely but we use our own phones so you can see if anyone is working abroad.

I'd tell her that someone in your multiple occupation house has attracted extra scrutiny for tax reasons and the Inland Revenue is involved so you can't do this. Make her think it'll be bad for her as well as you.

In no way would I allow her to use my home address for her fraud! Its CF territory to even ask you.

No UK family- not your problem
She can find another gullible person or pay for a PO box- although I doubt a PO box would be allowed, again, not your problem.

Id be tempted to report her anonymously before this even has chance to occur.

It could go so horribly wrong if she is, for instance, in debt and being linked to your address affects your credit score or ends up with bailiffs calling you or she could commit a crime and the police come to your address.

If she’s prepared to lie and cheat to her employer then she could do similar to you so any promises she makes are not worth the paper they’re written on as you already know she’s a liar.

Hold strong and do not agree to this. She can get a legitimate PO Box address, there are businesses where you can register a postal address for a fee. My husband has one for his company as we wanted it separate from our home address (the business is nothing dodgy BTW!) He just has his post sent there and they bin the junk mail and call him to collect anything important occasionally and answer phone calls for him and pass on a message. Most of what he does is online so he has minimal need of a landline or postal address and this meets his needs perfectly

How's it tax evasion?? Id assume the employer is paying the tax out of her wages

Yep similar with government legal dept but as it was government they were a bit more lenient.

There are dozens of "virtual office" services who will forward your mail on to you abroad, including packages. They will even open and scan your mail for you for a fee. She should subscribe to something like this. I use one in the USA which gives me a valid US address for correspondance and anything I buy over there. These services are not difficult to find and are tax deductable if you are self employed.

This is what I’d do. I’d tell her in writing that you’re not comfortable with her using your address. Hopefully she won’t then use your address without you knowing, but if she does, you have it in writing that you didn’t give her permission.

Is she a legal resident in that EU country?

But she is evading tax in the country where she is currently residing.

It’s fraud i definitely wouldn’t get involved. You’d lose your single person council tax for a start.

She's not your friend.

And you're going to have to make sure she's not using it without your permission.

Depends on the country. Many you pay either / or not get taxed twice.

I would say no, but i can see why she asked as it isnt as big a deal as I thought from the thread title

Still, you just dont need the stress and anxiety

It shouldn't ruin your friendship by politely declining

YABU it's no big deal. I'd do it for my friend

Thank you all for your advice, I’ve messaged and said I just don’t feel comfortable with it and explained why, and asked if she can find someone else or set up the PO Box thing that some of you suggested. She’s replied saying that’s fine so hopefully that is the end of it. Really interesting to hear that for so many of you your employers keep tabs on VPNs etc to stop this kind of thing, I think the charitable sector is way behind on this kind of stuff, in my job (also NGO) they won’t even use Teams / Slack as it’s considered “too faffy” 😂.

Keep an eye that she doesn't your address anyway!

@Thechaseison71she is liable for double taxation if she is resident overseas (likely) as well as likely paying incorrect tax in UK. She should filing local tax returns if she is tax resident there.
As an aside she could be breaching immigration laws by working overseas without a visa plus breaching GDPR.

The bigger issue is PE creation. Her employer could be liable for overseas taxes without knowing as a result of her actions. This is a major issue and would definitely result in immediate dismissal as she is likely in breach of her employment contract.
Mad.

*use your address

Say no.

There are dozens of "virtual office" services who will forward your mail on to you abroad

If the employer is paying attention, won't they twig that it isn't a residential address? And I bet HMRC are fully aware of these services.

You pay tax in the country you live in. Some countries like USA yes you’ll be charged tax for USA and wherever you’re living but that’s the risk you take