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.

This could pull you into her fraud by helping her to maintain a false residency and tax fraud.

She’s also breaking employment law.

It’s dodgy on so many levels

But you don't pay UK tax as well then

The general rule in the EU countries is that income tax is paid in the country in which one spends 6 months or more each year, so if the OP's "friend" is living full-time in a country in the EU, tax should be paid in that country regardless of where it is earned.

The double taxation agreement ensures that tax is ultimately only paid once, but the general rule is that it is paid in the country of residence and the tax authorities in both countries need to be informed. Sometimes this involves actually paying the tax twice and then claiming back the tax from the non-residence country.

For the employer there is the issue of social security and pension payments - if the employee is paying income tax in a EU country, the employer should also usually be paying any statutory social security, healthcare and pension payments due in that country. There is also the issue of whether or not the employer can be deemed to have set up a business or a subsidiary in that country, with the associated taxes and liabilities that this would entail.

OP's "friend" might also be breaking immigration rules, either by living in the EU country for more than 90 days without a residence permit (although if she is a EU citizen this would not be applicable, but registration with the authorities would still usually be required) and/or by working without a working visa if this is required.

She's not a friend. At all.

Of course you shouldn’t.

It’s almost laughable you need to ask.

Do not do this. It’s fraud and you will be culpable. Tell her that if she uses your address you will report her to hmrc. You probably should report her anyway tbh.

She would be paying tax on her UK income , and then EU countries have dual taxation so they would pay any difference if necessary in their adopted country

I'm trying to think of a quicker and better way to make yourself obvious to the security services of the UK and the host country.

There aren't many.

YANBU to say no.

I have a friend who asked to use our address for her car insurance as it was cheaper and I said no. She used my parents address instead without asking.

She's a criminal or very, very stupid. This like this aren't "technically legal" like a PP mentioned but highly illegal because there are many employment and tax laws involved. Employers are often limited to hiring people from specific countries because they have an office or tax account there, which is required for payroll. They have to ensure all their employees are legal residents of that same country.

This could bring her employer into serious legal trouble as well. To be honest, I would be tempted to tip them off anonymously since she might go into the trouble of getting a fake PO box.

OP's "friend" might also be breaking immigration rules, either by living in the EU country for more than 90 days without a residence permit (although if she is a EU citizen this would not be applicable, but registration with the authorities would still usually be required) and/or by working without a working visa if this is required.

It's quite possible that this friend has moved to the EU with her partner and is fully insured or even claiming social benefits as a spouse/partner. This happens surprisingly often with white collar couples. If he's the higher earner then they can move together with full benefits & residence permit offered by his company or the state. On paper she'll be studying the language or unemployed and eligible for more benefits without paying income tax. She maintains her "remote" job from another country which also gets paid into her old UK bank account so it's virtually undetectable. The taxes are paid by her employer in the UK but that doesn't really matter in the big picture because she's getting a full salary without having to pay income tax or social insurance in her country of residence (in the EU up to 50%).

It’s probably being evaded in the country where she’s actually living, and where she sits while she’s working. Ironically, she’s probably paying more uk tax via PAYE than is required, since she doesn’t actually live or work here; but almost certainly evading it in her country of residence, unless she’s already declared the earnings to the authorities there and done something under the double taxation rules.

@User765342
"She maintains her "remote" job from another country which also gets paid into her old UK bank account so it's virtually undetectable."

My experience of the taxation, employment and immigration authorities in 3 different EU countries is that they are very good at detecting this sort of thing and the consequences as a result of getting caught can be severe - e.g. fines, deportation, a criminal record.

this kind of entitled attitude is one more reason why people don’t trust charities any more. If they’ve not discovered she’s been working abroad for some time then they are a shitshow and if she’s typical of their employees, doubly so. Fuming.

I've voted YABU but only because its not "illegal" for her to live abroad but work for a UK company- I have done so, fully registered for declaring tax in the other country. But, if she's not restricted by her employer, there is no reason for her not to use her real address. I did find it useful to use a uk address for banks and a sim card

My employer has never sent me anything in the post in over 10 years so I doubt she needs to bother updating the address she has, unless they are really old school and post out her payslips.

Glad you have decided against it. It is illegal and immoral. things change and before 3 know it it's a huge issue

Absolute refuse this. She is putting you at risk of fraud. Cut friendship immediately. Why would she even think this was acceptable?

I know plenty of companies have in the small print explicit clauses about no working from abroad. No VPNs.

Companies can be fined unlimited fines by the tax and regulatory authorities for having staff secretly working abroad, plus there is major GDPR problems and data transfers penalties from different countries.

It’s a gross misconduct instant sacking issue.

If a company has workers working in a new country, that new country can demand unlimited taxes in that new country in addition to what they are already paying.

Also, if a company has a base in a new country, they can also be sued in that new country and be subject to laws and regulations of that new country.

That’s why companies go ballistic about secret staff working remotely.

Apart from anything else, a company pays massive uplift to hire staff from the United Kingdom.

If everyone moves to Thailand to work because rent is 100% less than the UK. Then the company thinks why are we paying 10x salary for British workers when we might as well hire staff from Thailand.

lot of industries also have regulatory requirements about which countries they are based in. Again, massive fines and 10% turnover of profits for those who break the rules.

No way. She sounds well dodgy

Never ever let someone use your address. Big mistake . Can lead to scams etc.

I would even check with your local Council.to see if she has tried to get on the Electoral Register.

Gosh no, and she would probably have to provide proof of address at some point so it might not even work.

Her company can continue to employ her but she would have to go onto a contractor style contract instead of the contract she has now.

Whether they'd be prepared to accommodate that is another question but it is a very common situation in tech companies who offer remote working.

I wouldn't be giving her my address. That's a form of fraud I'd think. Steer clear and tell her to ask about a contractor contract

For this to happen, the friend would have to tell her employer that not only is she working abroad but has been for a number of years - all in breach of her contract which the OP has said does not allow this.

Not only would the friend face immediate dismissal, but she could well face legal action and a bill for signigicant compensation.

Wow how does her employer not know?! Is she working remotely