# Telecommute in Spain



## MrSam (Jul 31, 2012)

I started this topic after reading the previous thread 'Can I live in Spain with a telecommuting job with an American company'.

This sparked my interest because it is a plan I have been thinking about myself, although our circumstances are slightly different.

We live and work in Australia and I suppose I am already an 'Expat' since I was born in Scotland. I don't like the term expat however because for me it conjours up an image of a khaki-clad, knobbly-kneed Englishman in a pith helmet eating turkey and Christmas pudding in the tropics and complaining about the servants while getting a bad case of sunburn. But I digress. We have been planning the 'Big Trip' to Europe in the next couple of years when we will have paid off our house and have a degree of financial freedom.

My plan is to extend our stay in Europe to approximately 6 months after our 6 week holiday is finished. The purpose of the 6 months is to 'test the water' to see if we would like to move there on a more permanent basis. However, to do this and keep my job, I would need to be able to 'telecommute' which is what I do now anyway, albeit in the same time zone and hemisphere as my company. 

If I understand correctly, if I do this I will be contravening the terms of my visa since I will be a bona fide tourist and therefore not allowed to work in Spain. But I can't see any other way of carrying out my plan other than working "illegally" even though I am employed in Australia and paying taxes there. Spain and Australia have a reciprocal tax arrangement but it doesn't cover my proposed situation and I don't think there is a visa that I could apply for that would enable me to do this legally. So, I have no choice but to become an international criminal. The only alternative would be to extend my trip by staying in Scotland but unless global warming hurries up a bit, that is not going to happen.

I wonder if any other people have similar experiences?


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## Minerva.909 (Jul 29, 2012)

You might consider, for example, setting yourself as a freelancer in Spain, paying taxes, offering your services (if granted a work visa) and hire yourself in Australia to service your current employer. A lot of Americans I know work lite that often in Cancun/Playa del Carmen in Mexico, etc There are lots of ways to skin a cat: legal, semi-legal etc.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

MrSam said:


> I started this topic after reading the previous thread 'Can I live in Spain with a telecommuting job with an American company'.
> 
> This sparked my interest because it is a plan I have been thinking about myself, although our circumstances are slightly different.
> 
> ...


do you still have a British passport?

if so, it's simply a case of moving over & setting up your business in Spain - you can continue to do your work FOR anywhere, but as a resident of Spain you'd just pay your tax etc. here, as Minerva.909 said - though you wouldn't need a work visa


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## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> do you still have a British passport?
> 
> if so, it's simply a case of moving over & setting up your business in Spain - you can continue to do your work FOR anywhere, but as a resident of Spain you'd just pay your tax etc. here, as Minerva.909 said - though you wouldn't need a work visa


MrSam is planning a tour of Europe, not just Spain. At least I think he is.
I suppose that setting up business in Spain would be one way around this.
But it does seem rather a lot to go through just for a six month stay.

Hi *MrSam*,
I don't know the answer to your question as you will see from my postings on that other thread.
But, I did notice that you talked about working in your country's time zone.
As someone who often has to work in the US time zone, I can say that this does mess around with your sleep patterns a bit. 
And with Australia this would be worse.
So don't forget to take that into account when you plan to travel around Europe.
You don't want to miss anything because you are too tired to enjoy it, do you.  

But one good thing about working online (if that is what you will be doing) on a time zone different to the rest of Europe is that the internet is often an awful lot quicker, because all the XBox and Playstation users are asleep.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Solwriter said:


> MrSam is planning a tour of Europe, not just Spain. At least I think he is.
> I suppose that setting up business in Spain would be one way around this.
> But it does seem rather a lot to go through just for a six month stay.
> 
> ...


yes, but still easier if he has a British passport 

setting up as autónomo isn't that hard - he probably wouldn't have to actually start a new company :confused2:

it would be easier if he didn't have to do any of that though, of course................


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## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> yes, but still easier if he has a British passport
> 
> setting up as autónomo isn't that hard - he probably wouldn't have to actually start a new company :confused2:
> 
> it would be easier if he didn't have to do any of that though, of course................


Agreed on the British Passport.
But being autonomo also means that you are working for a range of clients, not just the one. So if he is working for the one company, I don't know how he would get on with that.


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## MrSam (Jul 31, 2012)

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Yes, I do have a UK Passport (somewhere) but the idea of going through the process of setting up as self-employed doesn't really appeal. All I want to do is carry on working as I do now after my official holiday is finished so that I can extend my stay in Europe (living in Spain). I'd be working mainly Euro time zone business hours so would have to compete with the PlayBox users. My line of work doesn't require me to be in contact with clients all the time.

If we decide to move permanently, then the autonomo route sounds promising though. I like the sound of the word too.

Btw, we've been looking around Amlogia as a base mainly because we saw some properties we quite liked there. Anybody know that region? I did a forum search but came up empty-handed.

Thanks again.


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## tonyinspain (Jul 18, 2011)

The passport scenario is the best for you then apply autonamo that will cover your health care and taxes as the other posters have said my son has just gone to australia on a 12 month working visa and hes managed after 2 weeks of being there a job so hes well chuffed good luck


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## MrSam (Jul 31, 2012)

tonyinspain said:


> The passport scenario is the best for you then apply autonamo that will cover your health care and taxes as the other posters have said my son has just gone to australia on a 12 month working visa and hes managed after 2 weeks of being there a job so hes well chuffed good luck


Thanks for the good wishes. Yes, things in Australia don't seem too bad compared to what I've been reading about Spain in this forum. Someone who really wants to work will usually be able to find something. My niece emigrated recently and found a job almost immediately (much to her horror). Anyway, hope your son enjoys it while he is here - I'm sure he will.


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