Tax and employment implications of being based in UK and France??

[KookyNotOoky]

So I was thinking of buying a place in Kent, and in the meantime I'll need to rent somewhere whilst I look for something.

Insert usual rant about UK rental insanity here

It seems that Normandy is a lot cheaper to rent in then Kent. I was thinking I could possibly rent there and just pop over on weekends to view places.

I am wondering what implications this would have for my job (my full-time job and my various side hustles) in terms of the law and tax? At one point does France stop viewing you as a tourist and sees you as a resident eligible to be taxed in France? Would there be a way around this (e.g. returning to UK frequently so I am not living in France for long consecutive periods etc.)? Just trying to work out of it's worth the hassle.

Do you have citizenship of an EU country?

ps. probably should have mentioned I am a f/t remote worker

pps. Yes I am an EU citizen (Irish) so can move there no problem.

Does your employer have a registered entity in France? If not, they may not allow you to work from there due to tax liability.

What has your employer said?
We cannot work more than 30 days in a year from another country, something to do with residency and tax rules. I'm an accountant but don't deal with tax so not entirely sure of the ins and outs, other than it's a very common issue.

What about a house share in Kent? Much less hassle. Or rent in a cheaper area in the UK.

if you have citizenship within the EU I don’t see why you couldn’t go there (here - I live in northern France 😁) but you would have to pick somewhere to declare residency and then you’re paying tax etc in that place. If you work full remote would your employer allow you to administratively relocate and pay you into a french acc etc? What would be your reasons for staying in Kent at all? if you wanted to hop between the two I think you may have to prove how many days you are ‘not in France’ for example if they did try to insist you were resident. On a side note I’m wondering what you do for a job as I’m currently applying for a couple of remote positions 😬X

It’s not technically legal for you to actually work while you are in France but who would know? You will need to have a UK address as your residence still.

180/365 rule applies to you with your EU passport.

1. depending on what kind of role you perform (eg if v senior) you may create corporate tax obligations of your employer in France as a result of performing work duties there. This is very unlikely but would bring all sorts of wide ranging implications and so worth checking.

2. you'll need to assess your France and uk residence status. If you remain UK resident you'll continue to be taxable as normal here. If you trigger French residence as well according to domestic law there, and have a home in France and not in the UK during that period, you'll definitely have to file and pay taxes in France as the uk/France treaty will award residence to the country in which you have a home in the first instance. If you don't trigger residence in France and/or have a home in neither/both countries, you may still have to pay tax in France on income earned in relation to French workdays (and any other French sourced income) but it's less likely.

3. from a social security perspective you'll likely remain subject to UK NI but you'll need to get an A1 certificate to exempt you and your employer from French social security.

This France thing would only be temporary whilst I find a permanent home. Not a big fan of France tbh so it's purely about the £££. Could possibly save £200-300 p/m on rent in say Calais.

My idea would be to live and pop back on enough weekends that I would be seen as tourist rather than a resident.

Still sounds like rather more hassle than it's worth.

If you’re not actually interested in living in France I’d deffo say this is more hassle than it’s worth yes!!!

Even apart from tax implications, I suspect any savings on rent will be eaten up by the cost of cross channel travel. It's also very slow. Even if you go via the shuttle, it's a good few hours of queuing through passport and security at either end.

Habitual residency under EU law is classed as 180 days in any year. There's some information about cross-border worker on Your Europe: europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/work-abroad/cross-border-commuters/index_en.htm

Your situation may be more complex if you're earning in the UK....

France does not allow people to work in the country unless the employer is registered and paying your share of the social taxes as a result. There is no digital nomad visa.

It's more complicated that the 180 days. As soon as your primary residence is there they consider you resident. I've been caught in a residency trap between France and another country and ended up paying income tax twice because neither would give in. You would also have to pay council tax equivalent which is often higher than in the uk. It's going to be a pain.

If you are doing it to save ££ then it is definitely more hassle than it's worth. Have you seen the prices of channel crossings?