Working remotely from the UK

[sdunnaway]

I've seen a few threads regarding working remotely but I'm a bit confused, possibly because my situation is a bit different. I am a US citizen working for a US company and I'm moving to the UK where I intend to temporarily (3 months) work for the same company remotely. Is there any legal reson I cannot do this if I have a spouse visa and am authorized to work in the UK? Also, does my company have to do anything 'special' regarding having an employee work remotely overseas if there are several other employees working remotely for the company? (they are working remotely in the US)

[Bevdeforges]

If you are moving to the UK (especially with a spouse visa), then you will be resident in the UK - and thus subject to UK taxes on any work you do. While you still have to file US taxes, your earnings will most likely fall under the overseas earned income exclusion, so you won't owe any taxes (at least not to the IRS).

The fact of your employer being US based is really irrelevant here. The one thing you would want to clear with your employer is that they should NOT be withholding US taxes, nor US social security or anything else. In fact, it would probably work out best all around if they were to consider you a "contractor" rather than a remote worker.

I'm not sure of the UK rules on this, but you may have to establish some sort of "self-employment" status and bill your services back to your "employer." You may be liable for UK taxes and social insurances on your earnings during the time you're working from the UK.
Cheers,
Bev

[ExpatPumpkin]

Personally, I wouldn't do anything in terms of reporting, etc. If you're going to: a) work for an American company, b) with American-based clients/accounts, then the fact that YOU are temporarily in the U.K. should be of little to no consequence.

You're just going on a long vacation and continuing to attend to your work duties from afar. Do you set up a tax scheme everytime you take work calls while on international vacations?

If you will be seeing British clients or working from a London-based office, it's a different story. But if you're just going to be answering emails and making calls to the States from your living room in London, I think you're overthinking it

And the legal/accounting work associated with setting this up and then swiftly reversing it when you return to the States three months later would be a hassle and quite an expense, I'm sure...

[Bevdeforges]

You're assuming that sdunnaway is only going over to the UK for 3 months, which isn't at all what I get from his or her initial post. (S/he mentions a spouse visa, which normally is longer term - I get the feeling the working arrangement is merely a transitional one for the first three months in the UK.) Perhaps if s/he comes back with a bit more information, we can help with this.
Cheers,
Bev

[ExpatPumpkin]

That's true. I read it differently. I was assuming that her spouse was going to work on a short assignment and that she'd only be in the U.K. for three months or so...

[Nuc Tech]

Actually, you owe tax to the IRS under certain conditions.
Check this IRS web site and search a bit more. I can't post the correct link yet, cause do not have 4 posts yet.