Working remotely in another country

[Gwenhwyfar]

Hi
Would I be totally mad to take a job in another country when relocation is not possible. It would mean working remotely until unnecessary travel within this country is allowed and foreign travel allowed for the move. When I eventually move, I will need the help of at least one person for shipping my stuff.

So, what are the pitfalls of this? I would be working here, but on a contract from another country. Are there any huge issues with tax and eventually benefits should it all go pear shaped? Would I even be eligible for NHS care if I got Covid, but I'm a tax payer elsewhere. Would I need to be paying health insurance in the country where I'm an income tax payer even though I couldn't access healthcare there.

I suppose the whole thing is made more complicated by not knowing how long restrictions will last. If a month or two, fine, but if they last until the end of the year, I will never be able to move anyway because of the end of the transition period and I wouldn't want to work remotely forever. I would then have to resign presumably.

Am I totally mad?

Very much dependent on which country it is

Uk has various international tax treaties some of which may well change with Brexit so agree it is very dependent on the country involved. You would normally pay tax and ni (or equivalent) whereever you are resident but would you be paid in £ or other currency, into a local account or UK bank?

I would be exactly like a person resident in that country (an EU country, but I don't want to name), have a contract there, paid in Euros, not sure to which account, but I have an account over there already. I would be able to live on what I have here for the first month, but yes, afterwards I suppose I'd be transferring every month or something like that. Or could I ask to be paid to my account here? I hadn't even thought of that.
There must be a few people in this situation now, those who'd planned to relocate but can't for the moment.

I think you need to go back to the potential employer, and get a commitment from them in writing that if you can’t make the move until after the end of the rransition period they will get you a work visa, and also that any relocation package will be extended.

I won't be asking for a relocation package as it's not that kind of job, but you have a point about the work visa.
I was happy to cover the cost of relocation myself, but that was never meant to include being unemployed and potentially not being eligible for help anywhere because I wouldn't be resident in the country where I'd contributed.
I suppose in a way it's like those people who are on expat contracts - they've got contracts of their original country rather than where they're living, but I'd be the other way around with a contract from a country I'm not living in.

On healthcare - your eligibility for NHS treatment is based on you being resident in UK, not on where you pay tax. So if you remain in the UK you'd be eligible, but at the point you relocate you'd need to arrange medical cover in the other country.

Thanks OneMoment. I suspected that was the case, though I'd feel guilty about it.
The more I google this, the more it seems to not even be legal, but lockdown must be forcing a few people into this situation.

It's not illegal Op & is akin to those people who work in Southern Ireland but live in Northern Ireland.

You'd pay tax in the EU country you work in - UK doesn't do double taxation so you wouldn't be expected to pay tax in the UK too. You'd be eligible for the NHS as this is where you're resident regardless of where you work. It does feel somewhat immoral in that you're not paying tax into the system but benefitting from living here, but again, plenty of people on benefits are taking from the system & not paying in, so it's not really any different to that, I guess.

Remote working is totally do-able. We had employees working remotely in Poland as they wanted to go home after working in the UK & the nature of their job meant that was possible. They were paid in sterling to a UK bank account & subject to tax & NI same as any other employee. Assume they did a bank transfer to get their money to Poland but no idea in that TBH.

Invisible - thanks so much for that. I was googling last night and some people were saying that there were only two ways of doing it - I would have to become self-employed or my employer would have to set up a service company in the UK to pay me here so I could pay income tax here.
If I can pay tax in the EU country in the normal way that all the other employees are doing, then that would be fine.

So, yes I could get paid into my account in that country and transfer it over. The other option would be using my bank card from over there, but I suppose I'd be losing money each time with that rather than doing one transfer a month.

I would hopefully only be doing it for a few months anyway.

I know the Eurostar is still running and I think I should be able to argue that moving to the country where I am an employee is essential travel, but there's still the issue of getting my stuff over. Moving on a budget is always a logistical nightmare anyway, but now I have the Covid crisis going on and the end of the transition period coming up.

Deep breaths. Might not get the job anyway.

Just a point - if it is an EU country, and you haven't lived in that country for whatever required period, you cannot be sure that you will be allowed to work in that country and/or access services regardless of where you are resident. There's this little thing called BREXIT, that most people have forgotten about in the virus panic, but BREXIT still exists. There is not any certainty yet about reciprocal arrangements on a whole host of areas, including even the right to work in that country (especially if the role is one that can be done by EU nationals). It's also worth noting that your employment rights and protections may be adversely affected, depending on which country's contract laws are in force. Some countries have much better rights that the UK, but many others do not.

You should also take into account that if you wish to return to the UK (or have to return, whether you want to or not) you will need a fairly good financial buffer because you will almost certainly fail the Habitual Residency Test, which means you would have no eligibility for any form of benefits, including Universal Credit/ unemployment or sickness benefits, or help with housing costs. People assume that if you are British the HRT does not apply to you. It does. So there is a real prospect that if you had to return, if you can't support yourself for several months, you could end up penniless.

Hi Moondust. I've mentioned Brexit many times in my post. I'm extremely aware of it and it's the main reason why I want to move now. The ministry of foreign affairs of the country in question has said anyone resident before the end of the transition period can stay.

This country has much better employment rights than the UK.

Yes, I have considered eligibility for benefits. The thing is if you resign from a job or are sacked you have no eligibility for a while anyway. If I was made redundant, my eligibility would be in the other country where I've contributed tax, but if I'm not a resident there, that would be problematic. I understand that. When I moved back to the UK ten years I also just lived on my savings for a couple of months while looking for a job so I am willing to do that if the worst comes to the worst.