AIBU. Work from home at overseas and not paying taxes in the UK!

[milnelucy]

I saw some of my colleagues take the work from home advantage because most like we will work from home till March 2022. Some of them moved back to Europe and one of them moved back to India and work from home. I heard they can avoid paying the income tax in the UK because they have not been in the UK for more than 180 days. I don't fair to us. I feel that is not fair to us. Am I being unreasonable?

They are contractors. So, they pay their own tax and etc...

Then they are either classed as self-employed or have an umbrella company. Either way, their tax affairs are up to them to sort out, they will be submitting an invoice to your company, who will be paying them according to the terms in the contract between both parties.

@BlackboardMonitorVimes there's nothing to bite...that's the rules. I

OP, you really should have said they were contractors at the outset. That changes things. They are responsible for their own tax.

@BlackboardMonitorVimes would it also annoy you to know that I used to get child benefit paid by the U.K. for my children even though we didn't live there. My dh used to work for a U.K. company so child benefit was paid via the U.K. and topped up by Ireland...there's so many ways In which money is paid out of countries and in ways which are allowed. You agreeing with it is neither here nor there.

One of the benefits of being self-employed is that you are free choose where and for whom you want to work. Digital nomads are quite common in the freelance world. A woman I know spent most of her year travelling around different countries and working from her laptop. If I had been a bit younger when I was SE and didn't have a mortgage/young child, I would have done the same!

You are wrong here.

It is very common, I daresay even a global norm, that tax arising from employment is paid in the country where the individual resides. Not in the country the employer resides in. For example, I used to work in London for a US company, I still paid UK tax, not US tax.

If the individuals are coming and going between the UK and elsewhere, then the situation becomes more complex and dates and number of days become relevant. But sounds like these people were all long term working elsewhere and accordingly it all seems in order to me.

^^Wot April said..

It’s perfectly possible to be living abroad, be legally working for a UK company, have a UK physical place of work, even be on PAYE, but by virtue of role, residency, time spent in the UK/elsewhere and what HMRC call your “centre of interest” be non resident in the UK for tax purposes.

You’ll then almost certainly be liable in tax where you are resident, you may have some tax liability in the UK dependent on time spent actually working there…at which point double taxation agreements may kick in.

Fundamentally it’s potentially very complicated but what is being described upthread may be perfectly in order

If you work for a global company this is the norm.

You and your employer can agree between you where you’re registered for tax (and usually medical and pension) purposes and then you’re taxed and insured according to local rules.

It’s only a problem if you’re working somewhere other than where your employer thinks you’re working.