# Tax implications for non-EU citizen living in Austria & working for Swedish company



## Zef (Oct 5, 2018)

*Tax implications for non-EU citizen living in Austria & working for Swedish company*

Hello all. I am an Australian citizen and am moving to Austria early 2019 to live together with my Austrian wife for min 1 year, max 3 years.

I currently work remotely for a Swedish company as a contractor/consultant. This is my only source of income. I am a sole trader in Australia, and currently pay income tax there.

This situation becomes more complicated when I move to Austria. I understand after living more than 6 months there I am required to pay income tax. I assume this still applies if I am being paid in to a bank account in Australia?

I am wondering if the best course of action would be for me to establish a company in Europe (perhaps in Malta) and invoice from there, and then pay myself a basic salary while I live in Austria. I would then pay tax on my salary in Austria, and my company would pay tax in Malta. Is this a reasonable/worthwhile approach?

Thanks for any advice.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Have moved you over to the tax section, as this is the sort of cross border tax issue normally dealt with here.

OK, first of all, you are generally subject to personal income taxes in the country in which you are resident, and in any event, you are normally considered to be working in whatever country you are physically in while doing the work. It matters very little where the company is based, nor where you are paid.

As a resident of Austria, you'll also be expected to pay any social insurances in Austria, too. So, if you continue to work remotely for the Swedish company, you'll probably do best to set up a small business in Austria to handle your billings and pay your taxes (payroll taxes). Unless your Swedish "employer" has an office or other presence in Austria and could pay you through a regular Austrian payroll where they would pay in the employer portion of the social insurances.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

If the OP is working as a consultant, I'm not sure it matters where the company is set up, he will be responsible for all his social/health insurance charges in Austria based on the salary he pays himself. He's not on the Swedish company's payroll, he's just invoicing them, presumably.

While it's not the most ethical thing for me to recommend, I'd say that if you're only going for one year, and will have a residence permit thanks to your wife being Austrian, I would not bother with any of this. Continue billing through your Australian company, continue paying Australian taxes. Balance the risk of being caught - very low as you are not in the local employment market, just working remotely from home - against the red tape involved in setting up a company and paying taxes in Austria (a process likely to continue long after your departure if you only stay a year, depending on when returns are filed). 

If you can get health insurance via your wife, for one year I would absolutely consider staying completely out of the Austrian tax system. You're still spending money in the local economy and paying VAT, it's not completely cheating. But if staying for three years it might be risky trying to keep everything under the table.

You would also need to sort out the Australian tax angle to avoid double taxation, either some sort of non-residency declaration or crediting back tax paid to Austria.


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