dammian

Hello,

I hope you're all well.
I tried to look for similar posts but couldn't find anything.
I am currently working as Cabin crew chief for an airline. My partner is moving to Italy as he's been offered a job there and I am planning to move there as well. Unfortunately right now I cannot quit my job and look for something in Italy for many reasons so we are considering 'commuting'. I'd spend my days off there and come to the UK to do my scheduled flights.
I have several questions wether it is possible and how difficult it would be.
1) TAX - my plan is to live in italy and commute to the uk only for my flights. Where should I pay taxes? Obviously my salary will be in GBP, coming in to an english account but I will be a resident of a different country. Is it better to leave it as it is and pay my TAX here in the UK?
2) healthcare - If I am emplyed in the UK how does it affect me being entitled to the heathcare in Italy? Am i entitled to it at all? Do I need to pay anything like national insurance?
3) and finally from your experiences do you think it is possible to live in one country but work in another? All the posts I've read were about people doing their own business, working on contracts etc. My case is slightly different - full time job in the UK but all days off spending in Italy. Ideally I would want to do it this way couple of months and then find something in Italy but as I don't speak much of Italian just yet I think it'd be extremely difficult.

Any help or suggestions or ideas would be much appreciated.

thanks in advice
x

ononno

Hello and welcome to the forum. I'm not an expert, but there are plenty here who are so no doubt you'll get more replies later on. I know people who do exactly what you want to do without any apparent difficulties.

Donna Noble

Hi and welcome, I'm sorry I haven't got time to give a terribily detailed reply right now but you can find lots and lots of deets on this forum regarding much of what you've mentioned.

Regarding this point ...

1) TAX - my plan is to live in italy and commute to the uk only for my flights. Where should I pay taxes? Obviously my salary will be in GBP, coming in to an english account but I will be a resident of a different country. Is it better to leave it as it is and pay my TAX here in the UK?

You won't be at liberty to decide yourself where you'll pay tax. If your main place of residence Italy, you pay your taxes in Italy. Again, if you search 'tax', 'resident for tax purposes', 'ivafe', 'ivie' or stuff to that effect, you'll find some very long and detailed info.

GeorgeYoung

One side issue you might want to check is whether your company would be prepared to continue employing you as a foreign resident - it's more complex for them in terms of social security, PAYE, insurance, etc. Maybe in your industry it's quite common but I know my wife's company told her they wouldn't employ her in those circumstances as they weren't set up for it (she ended up working as a self-employed contractor).

You'll be eligible for Italian tax if you live in Italy for 183 days or more per year. If you don't and you have an address in the UK, you could probably still claim to be a UK resident (essentially, you'll be taking a lot of short holidays in Italy where you'll be staying with your partner and everything will be in his/her name).

As you work for an airline, is there any scope for working for an Italian-based company? Or if you are at somewhere like EasyJet, do they offer transfers to teams based out of Malpensa, for example (I'm guessing aircrews have a "home" airport?)? Maybe they wouldn't require Italian language skills in that case (again, I'm speculating here, I don't know how your industry works!). I know someone who lives near me who recently applied for a job with Emirates based in Milan and she was looking for English tuition to get her up to standard for the interview, so English might be an advantage.

Hope that helps, sorry if I've come up with daft/obvious ideas!

Pulaski

This thread from a couple of months ago discusses a lot of the issues that are relevant to you. .... In short, you will find it expensive (taxes and social charges), and administratively difficult. In other words, it is possible but might not be something you want to do.

We see more questions from people who want to work in the UK but avoid becoming tax resident in Italy, and for, IMO, fairly good reasons.

dammian

Thank you George. I had a meeting with my employer today and I can now confirm that it wouldn't be a problem to be employed as a resident of different country. It looks like it's quite common in the industry. If it doesn't affect the operation of flights then I can live anywhere and just simply commute for flights.
Well that sounds a bit complicated because on average I have around 12/13 days off / a month. So even if I spend all of them in Italy I wouldn't probably live there more than 183 days. I did however plan to move everything to Italy and have this country as my country of residency. I won't probably be able to keep a UK address as I'll be staying in a hotel for my duty. So I do see your point that for officials it will be basically me taking many short holidays, not necessarily living there.

EasyJet is in fact based in Malpensa as well however to join a new airline and start everything from nothing is gonna take another 2-3 years before the transfer is possible. The plan is eventually to apply straight to the Italian base however I do need to speak fluent Italian which for now is not the case (just yet ) I am also considering quitting my job in London and just trying to find something in Milan on the ground but I need to focus on my Italian for now. We did want to try and see if/how commuting would work out for us for a couple of months.
Btw. do you know anything about this Emirates job? Is that on the ground?


Thank you for your reply, I have seen this one. I feel really dumb because all those tax issues and jargon sounds so difficult for me
So you would probably recommend me to leave everything as it is - to 'live' in Italy but pay taxes in the uk? Also I would probably get the higher tax in Italy...

Pulaski

It is pretty much certain that you'd pay more tax if you were tax resident in Italy.

And you need to live in the UK, and visit Italy, meaning not spending more than 183 days/yr in Italy. But if your job is spent flying, then surely most of your time will be spent travelling to or from your UK base, so wouldn't it be difficult to find enough non-working days in the year to be able to rack-up 183 days/yr in Italy even if you wanted to? Just keep an address, and your primary place of employment in the UK and you should be fine.

37100

Don't give up your job without finding one in Italy first.

GeorgeYoung

Dammian - the job with Emirates was for cabin crew I believe but it was also a few months ago now - possibly even last summer.

Essentially, the rule is you pay your taxes in your country of residence. The complication comes in a situation like yours where your residence is not 100% clear. For example, I live in Italy and am self-employed here. Even though my clients can be based abroad, the work is done in Italy so I pay my taxes here.

The 183 day rule is the key test; if you intend to spend 183 or more days in Italy then you are a tax resident there. Similarly, if you don't maintain an address in the UK I would imagine it's hard to claim you are a tax resident there.

Selce

Is this correct?
If one stays longer than 90 days you are no longer a tourist and are required to register at police station, then apply for residency in your Local Commune showing relevant documents. This lasts for 5 years?
But if you stay 183 consecutive days or more in a year you are liable for world tax in Italy?

Geordieborn

Yes..

37100

Yes, you are required to register, but it is indefinite not just for 5 yrs.

Residency and tax residency are 2 different things. You can be considered a tax resident and liable for tax on your worldwide income if you stay more than 183 days even if you are not registered at the comune.

Selce

"If you intend to remain in Italy for a period exceeding 3 months, you must apply to your nearest town hall (Comune - Ufficio Anagrafe) for residency (iscrizione anagrafica). You will be issued with a certificate (attestato d’iscrizione anagrafica), which is valid for 5 years from the date of issue, or for your period of intended residency (if this is less than 5 years). After 5 years EU nationals can request permanent residency (attestazione di soggiorno permanente)."

From -- gov.uk/guidance/living-in-italy#italian-residence-permit

37100

This bit of information -from UK gov- is inaccurate and confusing.

When you register, comunes usually give you written confirmation of a successful residency application. This is simply a confirmation of your registration for you information and does not last 5 years or even 5 days. It has no use in every day life. You can request an I.D card (handy to have) and this will usually last 10yrs. Once you are registered at the comune you are considered, from day one, a permanent residency. 5 year residency does not exist. However, after 5yrs you are entitled to 'free' healthcare whether employed or not. The comune can issue you with a 'attestazione di soggiorno permanente' but it doesn't have any every day use other than to prove that you are entitled to healthcare, but even for that purpose, the comune can always issue you with residency certificate showing your date of enrollment.. There has been a rush of Brits asking for one in the hope that it will help their case to stay after Brexit and also avoid regular trips to the Police station for the paperwork required for non-eu's.

Selce

Thanks,
I agree it is confusing.

Surly the reason to apply is that it maintains your legal presence in Italy after a 3 month period?

I have also found this site for information poliziadistato.it/articolo/10930

I think it is from the police website, is this information correct?