BritCanadaNewbie

Hi Folks,
Anyone use there CAD incorporation to contract in UK? Is this possible? Or is it easier just to set up a UK LTD company?
Reason I ask is that surely using your Incorporation saves you from IR35 ramifications?

Would be great to see what methods folks use to invoice UK for contracts using there incorporation. Is it more trouble than it sounds?

Cheers
BN

Pulaski

If you operate your non-UK corporation as a branch in England or Wales, you are required to register your foreign corporation with Companies House anyway. There is a similar requirement for Scotland and NI.

If you just want to invoice for services performed outside the UK then there is no need to register your non-UK corporation in the UK.

Steve_

You just invoice from your Canadian company. If they insist on paying in Sterling you set up a UK account for the Canadian company, forex gets a bit complex.

If you're actually physically in the UK when the work is performed it gets more complicated.

Pulaski

That might be easier said than done.

BritCanadaNewbie

I will be for a short while yes and then be remote.

Aviator

If you are in the UK, working as an employee of a Canadian corporation on a temp basis, then no issues. You don't need to use a company number or CRA number as you woun't be charging GST.

BritCanadaNewbie

So you can invoice from Canadian Corp but just make sure you have a canadian sterling account ?

dbd33

I think I'm quite adventurous with tax matters but, if I understand the proposal correctly, I wouldn't do it. As I understand it, you live in the UK, you plan to set up an offshore company (a numbered company in Canada) with sterling accounting and a sterling bank account in the UK. You intend to bill a client in the UK from the UK for work performed in the UK using the vehicle of a company in a country where you've never lived.

Were I to do that I would be concerned that the Inland Revenue might not be very keen on that arrangement. I would be concerned that they might tell the CRA that they didn't like my arrangement. I would expect a lot of shit to fall on my head, multinationally.

BritCanadaNewbie

Hmmmm.. Large list of the wrong assumptions there mate.
I'm a Canadian perm resident. Coming back to UK and there is a possible work opportunity back in blighty . I'm just figuring options using my current numbered business.

dbd33

Then I wish you good luck with it.

Aviator

The bank account makes no difference. It can be a simple or complex process. If you get it wrong, it can be expensive. Talk to an accountant, they will know your business and can advise.

Steve_

If you're in the UK doing the work, then you won't be on a UK payroll, you're on the payroll of your Canadian corp., but because you're physically in the UK, you're supposed to be on a UK payroll. It's not a problem for a couple of weeks, but longer than that and you either have to (a) set up a UK payroll or (b) be on someone else's UK payroll, which in both cases means you've got to file for a foreign tax credit when you do your Canadian tax return.

You've also got to invoice them, which means a UK bank account, which is tricky for a foreign corporation. It can be done but it's better to invoice in CAD if you can.

The simplest way to do it is to be on their payroll as a non-resident (for tax purposes) employee, then they just do PAYE as normal and pay into your regular UK account. Then when you go back to Canada you invoice them and do the work in Canada.

It's the forex issue that's always the hassle with this. I always invoice in CAD or USD, which is why I haven't got any UK clients anymore because they always want to pay by BACS.

BritCanadaNewbie

As ever thanks so much steve .
Thing is when your back on UK PAYE you will then be on the hook for a different set issues with IR35? That's why I was keen to use my canada corp to avoid double taxation?

Steve_

IR35 isn't relevant, what I mean is, they put you on their payroll for however much time it is and then you file a P85 when you come back to Canada and then you invoice them from your corporation for any further work. Trying to use your own UK payroll although theoretically possible is just nightmarishly complex for a short stint in the UK.

You're not tax resident in the UK if it's less than 183 days, so your tax code should reflect that. In fact I'm not sure you do have to do a P85, I think it's just a P45 because you weren't resident to begin with.

If it's just a couple of weeks I wouldn't worry about it.

If you keep coming and going then it's going to be a pain in the backside.