Tax/Visa Help

[gscotto]

Greetings,

Pardon me if I am posting this to the wrong forum, but I need some help.

I have a situation that I need some advice on and I’m hoping someone on this forum has dealt with this particular issue or has experience on the matter. I am willing to pay for professional advice if necessary.

I am a US citizen and will be working remotely from the US for a UK company and travel to the UK a minimum of 1 week a month to work onsite. During busy times I may be working onsite in the UK for 2 weeks or more at a stint. I will be paid directly from the UK company and be their permanent employee (not paid as a contractor or consultant). I believe my monthly salary will be paid into a UK bank account (which I will have to set up)… I will then be transferring money to my US account as needed.

TAX/Salary Payment Arrangement

My assumption regarding my tax liability is that I will be responsible for both US and UK tax and the amount will be determined by the number of days I spend in each country. So, for example, if I am only working in the UK for 1 week a month I would only be required to pay UK tax for the 1 week. I will have to keep track of all this myself and be prepared to pay the required tax at the end of the year (or hire a good accountant to sort it out for me).

• Am I thinking through the tax part correctly?
• Is there a better way to have the UK company pay me so that I can limit my tax exposure?
• Any other ideas on a better way to set this up?
Which Visa?

I am actually married to a UK citizen and currently have a spouse settlement visa (which may no longer be valid because I have been out of the UK for more than 180 days consecutively). We had moved over to the UK in August 2007 with the intent of settling there but due to family issues and another job offer in the US, we left the UK in November 2007 and have not returned. So my assumption based on my new situation (not settled permanently in the UK), I will not be able to use my current settlement visa (a bit of a waste of money, I know), and will have to apply for a new visa to allow me to work in the UK part time.

• Do I have the UK Company sponsor me for a Work Permit even though I won’t be living in the UK permanently?
• Do I apply for a Business Visa? Not really sure what benefits this will give me and the information I have been able to find on UK Business Visas make it seem that this visa doesn’t apply to my situation.
• Or, do I just enter the UK on regular visitor visas every month? This seems risky as I will technically be working for a UK company and paid in pounds.
• Also, how does my spouse settlement visa (expires August 2009) play into all of this? As noted, I'm assuming because of the residency requirements it's no longer valid.
I know I have a lot of (seemingly) difficult questions here, which is why I offered to pay for professional advice, but I figured I would try to post here first and see if anyone may have some information they can share.

Thank you in advance for any information you may be able to provide.

Regards,

George

[MichelleAlison]

Hi George and welcome to the forum.

It does sound complicated, but I am sure there is someone on this forum who can help you a bit.

Regards

Michelle

[cbelanger82]

Hi, my husband and I are now living in the UK but originally from Canada.
Before we moved here, my husband was working for the same company but he was doing field work as a geophysicist. He was paid in Canadian dollars in his Canadian bank account from his UK employer. He was paying Canadian taxes only as he was a Canadian resident and was not entitle to any of the benefits of being a UK resident (health insurance, pension, etc...) even if he worked in the office in Cambridge a few weeks yearly. He didn't need a visa to come to work in the UK as it was for short periods of time only (one month max at a time). His company was paying for a private medical insurance while he was out of Canada . I don't know if American citizen needs visa to visit in the UK, but Canadians don't if it's for short periods. You should be able to find more info on the British High Commision in the USA. It should be a lot easier than what you were expecting, especially if your company can pay you in USD. Hope this helps. don't hesitate if you have any more questions or are unsure about my explanations... Good luck

[marcusb]

Probably your spousal visa is still valid. The fact you've been outside the UK would mean you would struggle to get it renewed on the same terms but it shouldn't automatically invalidate the visa as first issued.

The spousal visa normally leads to permanent residency after a time period - but you'd likely have to start from scratch to get permanent residency / ILR.

You should check this with UK immigration attorneys. They shouldn't charge you to give this advice.