# Working Remotely in the UK with jobs abroad



## Gemini1 (Nov 1, 2011)

Hi All,
Just discovered this forum while trying to find answers to my questions. Perhaps some of you might be of some help.
My partner and I are British Citizens, currently living in Canada. We have been debating moving back to England, and, call us crazy, but thought this might be a good opportunity to give it a go. At first the move would not be permanent, but merely to see if we are making the right decision. Wherein my questions lie. We both have decent jobs here, and as we are working remotely as it is, with no view of heading back into the office....is it possible that we can just move back to the UK and do our jobs remotely from there? Still working the same hours (on Canada time) and still being paid into our Canadian bank accounts, but just living (temporarily) over there to try it out. We were thinking 6 months maximum to see how we like it. That way we are not letting go of jobs etc until we are certain we want to move back. Any input? Are there any obstacles with taxes, EI, benefits etc?


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## clever-octopus (May 17, 2015)

It's possible, but you'll need to talk to your employers in Canada about foreign compliance. I worked remotely for a US-based company (FAR more complicated due to US tax requirements) and as the work is physically undertaken with you being resident the UK, you'll be subjected to UK labour laws and will pay taxes in the UK. The UK and Canada do have a tax treaty to prevent double taxation. So you will have to fill in a self-assessment tax return with HMRC in order for your foreign-earned income to be taxed appropriately in the UK: Tax on foreign income


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## Gemini1 (Nov 1, 2011)

clever-octopus said:


> It's possible, but you'll need to talk to your employers in Canada about foreign compliance. I worked remotely for a US-based company (FAR more complicated due to US tax requirements) and as the work is physically undertaken with you being resident the UK, you'll be subjected to UK labour laws and will pay taxes in the UK. The UK and Canada do have a tax treaty to prevent double taxation. So you will have to fill in a self-assessment tax return with HMRC in order for your foreign-earned income to be taxed appropriately in the UK: Tax on foreign income


Thank you! It was more, if we got the OK from our employers, then what else would we need to consider. I didn't know if we'd be paying UK tax, as we'd be making Canadian dollars etc.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

If you did this on a temporary basis the Canadian government would likely still consider you Canadian tax resident.

But in general employment income is taxed where the work is done.

That means you'd end up filing both sets of paperwork. At least filling out the Canadian forms but possibly paying taxes on any other world wide income. 

Your employer might not want to deal with this. Especially if they don't have an UK office now.

I don't think EI can be paid out of country. That means if you paid in while in the UK you couldn't claim it.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

If you want to try it out for 5 to 6 months, change nothing. (After 6 months it doesn't look so temporary from the perspective of the UK authorities.) Treat it like a long holiday. You'd stay on Canadian payroll, with Canadian taxes deducted, and keep your Canadian health insurance. Money deposited to your Canadian bank account and so on. Don't mention any of this to Inland Revenue of course.

If you make it a permanent move, however, everything changes. You're resident in the UK and paying UK taxes (or, soon enough, England taxes after Scotland heads back to the EU) and using the NHS for health care. The UK is where you are living and working, so the UK is where you pay taxes, regardless of who employs you. As far as CRA is concerned, either you become non-resident and have no further tax obligations (though at the possible cost of a deemed disposition of assets) or because of ties to Canada including the job, you remain tax resident but credit UK taxes paid against your Canadian tax bill. How you work that with tax withholding and payroll deductions I'm not sure - often it's easier to switch from employee to contractor.

There might be some retroactive awkwardness to sort out if you go for a trial period but after working for 6 months you decide to stay, because the clock on your UK tax obligations would start on the day of arrival. Alternatively, if you decided to return to Canada but wanted to stay longer, you could probably get away with some minor British tax evasion for a year if it saved you a lot of paperwork.


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## nikkisizer (Aug 20, 2011)

Hi Gemini1,

The rules surrounding residence are complex and your individual circumstances would need to be looked at in more detail to determine which test you would pass (as their are various tests) under the Statutory Residence Test (SRT).

If you have any concerns you should seek professional advice. Happy to help if required.


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