p_stevenson

Hi, I'm new to contributing to these forums (though I've read several helpful threads). Now I'm looking for some information which I haven't been able to find online and wondering if anyone here could shed some light on it.

I've been applying for short-term teaching positions in Europe. I've had two interviews recently and on both occasions was told that I'd have to make tax contributions in the UK (because it's a short-term contract).

Apparently it's cheaper for the firm and I pay less if they use a UK agent (middle man) with my UK address rather than me paying taxes and obtaining resident status in Italy.

According to these employers because of the EU arrangement and due to the length of contract this is legitimate BUT my question is...

(I'll be bringing my wife over to the EU) Will making UK tax contributions while working in the EU affect the Surinder Singh route when it comes to the paperwork to bring her over to the UK?

Does the Surinder Singh route require that I need to have a residence permit in that country and/or pay taxes in that country?

Hope, I've explained this clearly. Any help would be much appreciated.

chaoclive

How short is your 'short-term contract'? See here: http://www.immigrationboards.com/vie...er=asc&start=0

If it's too short Surinder Singh may not work after 1st January 2014. Some discussions are provided in the link above.

The taxes are of concern for your host country; not for the Home Office. However, you must prove that you were employed and earning money (pay slips/contract etc) . You might want to ask your employer if your UK National Insurance number appears on your pay slips. I'm not sure if this would be an issue....Hope someone else on here will come to provide some further input.

your spouse should also be living with you for Surinder Singh to work - i guess you know that already....don't forget to keep all records of living together (rental contracts/utilities etc).

Good luck with this! Keep us posted on the move!
CC

BTW: the circumstances that you have mentioned above are completely legit - this happens all the time but you are right to be concerned for the purposes of Surinder Singh. Ever considered becoming self-employed? Perhaps there's still a way you can work in Italy (if that's where you would prefer to be). Spain is another option...quite a few ESL jobs there.

p_stevenson

Hi thanks for your reply. I tried to check it sooner but it came up with a message saying that this website had been reported for suspicious activity and wasn't safe to access?

....so it sounds like paying taxes in this country while working is OK. That's good news. I'm fairly certain if you were paid legitimately in this country for work in Europe anything like NI number would be there and Home Office would be able to see that.

So the only other question I have is length of stay. Many of these contracts are for 4/5/6 months. How long is long enough?

I don't fully understand why the information isn't put in black and white about what people need to do to satisfy the HO/UKBA requirements. I know the SS route is a workaround but that's only because our immoral government has forced British citizens and their families into this. The least they could do is tell us in clear terms how we can meet THEIR requirements so that families can stay together.

37100

I'm afraid Italy won't work without residency. Your wife needs a permit to stay. Easily obtainable, but only if you have residency. You could obtain residency and not pay tax here as long as you do not stay more than 182 days in a year.

Forgot to say, you need health insurance for residency.

englishguygoinghome

37100: UK Tax residency rules have changed - being out for 182 days is no longer enough depending on the number of "ties" you have to the UK you can be restiricted to under 2 weeks in country!

p_stevenson: they don't put the rules in black and white as the EU courts will not allow a tick-box exercise for this but want to ensure that all cases are considered individually on their own merits. Usually that's better for the applicant as it goves the cahnce to make your won case - but it seems the UKBA are now using that as an opportunity to push as many into appeal / not bothering to appeal as possible

37100

No idea about UK rules. I was refering to Italian rules. In Italy, we have official residency which can differ from tax residency. Things have changed here, too. Stay more than 182 days and your are now required to file a tax return on ALL you income/assests worldwide even if tax isn't due. Not that I'm saying that people do.

Keykaw

Taxes - I have been living and working full time in Italy for 9 months. However, I have a British contract where I am paying UK taxes. I haven't paid any tax in Italy. I do have an Italian ID card (residency card) and a residency certificate -when I applied for that they needed to see my payslips and were fine about it being UK tax.
Is this going to be a problem using the Surrinder Singh route? Please help!

Also - to reply to an earlier comment about working in Italy - any EU citizen can easily get an Italian ID (residency) card, you just need to show them where you live (a policeman comes to your door to check you really live there) and that you can support yourself financially (so payslips, bank statements etc...). It cost about 16 euro.

Then, for my non-EU wife - once I had my ID card, she was then able to apply for Italian residency - after 2-3 months of paperwork, queues and processing time she now has permanent Italian residency. I don't recommend doing this unless you speak Italian or you have Italian friends/bosses willing to help. I our case, my boss was very supportive and helpful so it was no problem.

englishguygoinghome

The way the Eu courts are currently interpreting the freedoms of movement etc. you should be fine in your setup. Who knows how the UKVI will interpret the rules though. I'd just give it a go, at the end of the day you have very little other choice. And please do post back on here to let others know whether or not it works.

Fair Lady

Our family are planning to move to Italy and wondered how we go about this? I am British and have three children that are Brits also but husband is American, non-EU and three adopted children are USA Cits' also. Did you get schengen visa for your wife who is Non-EU? Curious what our options are. Thank you.

Keykaw

Hi, my wife is South Korean but didn't need any visa before entering Italy. She had to go to the local questura (police station) and fill in some forms basically declaring her presence. This then gave us a month or two to sort out my residency, once I had that we went back to the police station with marriage certificate (with apostille) and my residency documents and applied for her residency. Then she was able to work here. With kids I assume it'll be similar because they are your dependents. If you don't speak Italian then you'll need a good friend to translate.
The only downside this way is that your husband won't be able to work straight away, if this is a problem then maybe there is another way... I don't know.