netjecadetje

Hello there,

Pardon me for barging in like this - hello.

I will be moving to Malaysia at the end of June, working in PJ and living in KL (well, in PJ for the first month or two as I get my bearings in the city). I know Malaysia quite well as I worked on The Rough Guide to Malaysia a couple of years ago, covering South and West. KL not so much, but the few times I visited, I loved it.

I will work for a local book distributor, who have organised my work permit and visa. They will pay Malay taxes and I will receive UK tax free wages.

QUESTION, please:

I will also be working as a consultant for my current job, a UK publishing house on a freelance basis; i.e. they will pay a gross monthly figure. Also, I will be writing features for the Rough Guides, so that's an additional income, too.

Does anyone know how it works in terms of UK taxes? Will I still have to pay tax / do a tax return in either the UK or Malaysia or both?

I'm very much looking forward to going - any sound advice received here and the milky bars are on me!

Thank you for reading / offering advice,
Nettie

ex reg

Even if you are non res, if you earn money in the UK then you are taxed by the UK on that income.
That's as I understand things.

netjecadetje

Hi,

Thanks - even if I'm set up as a consultant and as such not on the payroll, but will effectively be freelance?

I'm also not a UK citizen as I'm Danish, but have lived in the UK for over 21 years (European Union).

Finally, is it easy enough to open a Malay bank account?

Thank you once again!

Nettie

ex reg

Shirley if you are paid, then you must be on the payroll???
Otherwise how is it shown on the company accounts.

At the moment are you paid into a UK bank account, do you have a UK Tax code?

Unless someone else can assist you perhaps you can see a UK and Overseas tax accountant to give you better advice.

Of course you could contact the UK Inland Revenue and ask them.
But if you are like me you will only contact them as a last resort

netjecadetje

Don't call me Shirley.

I'll be invoicing them on a freelance consultancy basis. So, seen as a supplier rather than an employee.

But yes, I think I need to get some advice. *rummages brain for lawyer friends*

Ha, and yea, the last person I spoke with at the tax office seemed to have just walked out of a snow globe or something. Absolute last resort, I agree!

Thanks very much! Appreciated.

Aaah, I can't wait to get there!

Nettie

bakedbean

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I would take note of ex Reg's post. You don't need a lawyer. You need a tax consultant and figure out where you should be taxed. Best to get it right and not mess about with HMRC or they will come down on you like a ton of bricks.

Bluenose1

netjecadetje

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for the advice. You are right. I've contacted an advisor.

Thanks again. Ooooarf to the tropics, Alfie!



Nets

kingoflostfools

As a matter of interest, how did you get on with this?

The reason that I ask is that I've had an offer of work that might put me in a similar position - i.e. doing stuff remotely in Malaysia for a European client, but billing through an offshore company.

ex reg

Again this is my exerience from a few years ago.

If you are non UK res and get paid overseas and are taxed by some country, then if they have a double taxation agreement with UK then you won't be taxed by UK if you remit money to UK.

If your money isn't taxed off shore then UKIR may well tax you.

I may be wrong so best to see UK Tax consultant who deals with ex pats overseas.
They are not expensive.

bakedbean

Yeh but kingoflostfools is Manx/Irish according to his signature so maybe UK doesn't come into it?

kingoflostfools

How perceptive of you bakedbean - it's almost like you know me...?

Yup, quite correct. I haven't worked in the UK since 2007 and did a formal exit with HMRC providing me an "NT" PAYE Code, formal acknowledgement of my P85 submission and a letter from them saying that as I no longer lived or worked in the UK I no longer had to file tax returns (along with the usual caveat that if I was a tax dodging bar-steward like Jimmy Carr they would hunt me to the ends of the earth and sacrifice me to Cthulhu).

In truth I spend more time in various parts of Western Europe (Netherlands, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, etc.) or back in sunny Penang. The UK has nothing to offer me and I prefer to visit friends in the Isle of Man or Ireland when in the North West sector of the EU.

After all, the people are friendlier and the beer is better and cheaper.

netjecadetje

Hi,

Sorry for the wait - I've just sorted this out due to an extended period of high quality faffing.

I don't have to pay tax in the UK as I don't live there, so just need to fill in a P85 form and submit with my original P45, luckily as back-dated. All good, yay!

Am now in KL, amusing myself with asking the same question to the same person a kabillion times and still getting different answers. It's just so funny.

Nettie

teejaydee

Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but if the OP returns to the UK before 6th April 2016, she will be liable to UK taxes on her worldwide income during her period of absence. She will of course receive a tax credit for tax paid in Malaysia.

This is because to avoid UK income tax, it is necessary to remain outside the UK for a complete tax year.

ex reg

Unless Non Res status has already been obtained.