Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Can anybody help me. I am moving to the US soon, but am hoping to do work for my present company in the UK. My work is all computer based and so would be easy to do remotely.
My question is how do I work out the tax situation. Do I need to set up my own business in the UK and pay HMRC. Can I just get paid into my UK bank account and transfer it to the US, Declaring to IRS whatever is earned.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

The US will tax you on your worldwide income - regardless of where you live or do the work. If your income is taxed in the UK, you usually won't pay tax on that in the US - thanks to the US/UK tax treaty. When you file your US tax return, you enter the amount earned at the beginning of the return and subtract it out at the end as having already been taxed.


How you do your banking is up to you!

Ian

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

One assumes you have a visa in hand and that you'll have work authorization too?

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

do I need a visa????? I was just going to come in through Mexico.

I don't want to get taxed in the UK and would want to claim that back, through the double taxation scheme. I was thinking I would do self-assessment in the UK? But not really sure how it would work. I would also need to file taxes in the US. Any advice would be useful.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Why would "coming in through Mexico" mean that you don't need to comply with US immigration law?

If you are not a US citizen or permanent resident you cannot work in the US without an appropriate visa and employment authorization.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

You usually need a few posts under your belt before folks realize you're a sarcastic sod.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

... because the other option of "being a complete idiot" is so much more common ... :sneaky:

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Just so it's clear to the OP, while my question may seem as flippant as your response, you'd be surprised how many people post on here thinking that because they get paid in the UK by a UK company that they somehow don't need work authorization to work remotely from the US.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

What visa will you be using to move to the USA?

I fear a tax question is a bit premature...you first need the correct visa in order to live and work in the USA (yes, even if your employer is outside the USA and being paid outside the USA).

So you were just going to come to the USA on the VWP and stay permanently? You haven't done enough research. One cannot move to the USA just by coming in on the VWP. One cannot live in the USA while on the VWP, they can only visit. One cannot work while physically in the USA on the VWP; they need a proper work visa, or else be entering on some kind of visa which allows them to live and work in the USA.

Really, you need to do a LOT more research on the visa aspect of things, before you start asking tax questions.

Rene

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

FWIW I have a US company and do some work for a UK company. The UK company pays into my UK bank account without witholding anything, I transfer it to the US through the US LLC, and declare all the income to the IRS. The UK company's parent company said that arrangement was acceptable at that end, and the tax expert referred to on this forum has said the same. I just hope they're right!

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

I think I'll let Boromir handle this one ...

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instanc...0/25295704.jpg

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

:D

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

At any rate, everyone knows Mordor is much easier to get into than the US at the best of times :lol:

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

I assume you are being sarcastic.....what visa do you have?

If you don't have the appropriate visa then the question of work and tax is easy; you cannot work in the US and you will have to leave the US after 3 months. If you do some work over the internet for a UK company practically speaking the US won't know and you'll just be paid and taxed in the UK as normal.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

I was having a little chuckle while waiting in the immigration line at Chicago at the weekend. Two women behind me were chatting, they had obviously just met on the plane or in line, but one was saying they were moving for her husbands job and she couldn't work as they were on H visas. But not to worry as she was going to continue as a consultant for her old company in England:rolleyes:.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Great place to be having that discussion :eek:

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Hi Ian,

After doing some research, I see that you are moving to the USA on a spouse Immigrant Visa, so your tax questions are valid. You will become a US PR upon entry to the USA, so will have work authorization from Day 1.

Don't get upset at the people who are asking what visa you're using. We get an incredible amount of people posting who think they can simply up and move to the USA, living and working in the USA as a tourist.

It would have helped if you had just answered which visa you're coming on, rather than posting what you did above. There is NO way most of the posters here would have known that you're getting an immigrant visa.

Thank you,
Rene
Moderator

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

It just shows how oblivious people are to the law. I don't think she had any inkling that she would be doing anything wrong.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Thanks for answering my question. I don't know why people are so obsessed with my visa.
So, do you have to declare anything to HMRC or do they know that because you are a non resident to leave you alone?

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

See Post #17 in this thread for the reason why.

Rene

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

So you just assume everyone's an illegal immigrant. It appears there are a lot of visa experts on here, but not a lot of tax experts. The visa process is a piece of piss, I was after help on my taxes. I didn't ask to be set upon by a bunch of sanctimonious twats.
I was warned that people on here are rude and unhelpful, thanks everyone.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Cheers then.... Dont let the door hit you on the way out!

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Someone needs a hug xx :starsmile:

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

No, but there is little point in misleading someone who will have no chance of getting in at the same time, so we ask if they have a visa in the works so we know that they aren't wasting their time. The issue with taxes would have been irrelevant, had there not been the visa in place to enable you to earn money while living here in the first place.

Surely not an unreasonable request of someone on an immigration forum? Why get so precious about it?

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Calm down...I think you've got hold of the wrong end of the stick. We do not assume everyone is an illegal immigrant. We get many new members who say they are moving to the US...what they do not realise is that they can't just decide to up and move like the characters in Eastenders or Coronation Street. They need a visa and visas are extremely difficult to get...unless you are married or getting married to an USC.

Most of our members are not rude and they are very helpful...unfortunately the same cannot be said for some new members.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Simply because a lot of people come on here, think they can move to the US at the drop of a hat, and start asking what the weather is like in XYZ, when it turns out they have no hope whatsoever of moving there anyway. So it's a waste of time answering the question.

You're supposed to file a form (I forget which) when you leave the country. Beyond that I'm led to believe HMRC don't need to know. I think of it as buying services from abroad.

No. It's assumed they don't yet have a visa. Assuming they're an illegal immigrant requires them to be in the US in the first place - and yes they do crop up from time to time on here.

International taxes can be quite complicated so those of us that do need to know tend to engage the services of people to work it out for us - people who are experienced in both US and UK taxes. And there aren't many of those.

For your particular visa - now we know - yes. It's probably one of the easiest visas to get. Read the stories on here on how difficult it is for other visas.

Well I hope that doesn't happen. Let us know if it starts.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Correct. That's because it's basically a "General Life in the USA" and Sometimes Immigration forum. It's not specifically a Specialty Tax Forum. There might be some folks on here who know about US vs UK taxes, but then again maybe not. For sure very few experts, both regarding immigration and taxes.

I'm sorry you feel we were being unhelpful. When a new person suddenly posts about moving to the USA, and then follows up with a statement that he's going to just cross over from Mexico, then yes, we assume that means "illegal immigrant". Someone with the proper visa doesn't just cross over from Mexico.

By the way, I was being helpful by posting that you ARE coming on a valid visa, so that people COULD answer your tax questions. Give them a chance before you start calling everyone names.

Rene

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Only people like yourself. :ohmy:

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

To be able to answer tax questions it's important to know your visa status. Now that we know that you will have a Green card we can try to help.

It sounds as if you will be leaving the UK and becoming a US permanent resident. So you should file a P85 with HMRC and also I'd encourage you to apply to pay Class 2 Voluntary National Insurance contributions.

How you will be taxed on income you earn from a UK employer will depend on whether you are an employee or contractor. If you have UK sourced earned income you will remain liable to UK tax, but you will be able to claim a US tax credit, but the more complex issue will probably be national insurance, social security taxes and medicare, so the usual solution I've heard is for you to set up as an independent contractor in the US because the overhead and administration of a UK company having a single employee in the US would not be worth it.

So you should look into becoming an independent contractor for state and federal taxes. You will invoice the UK company and will have no UK tax liability, but you'll have to pay your own medicare, SS and federal and state income taxes.

The next question is what are you doing for health insurance. The ideal solution would be to get on your spouses plan as doing it yourself can be expensive and difficult depending on where you live.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Wow.

Was going to answer your question, but really, don't see the point.

You might as well just go google it if that's the way you feel.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

I'm sorry pal - but you need at least 5,000 posts on here before you're allowed to call anyone a sanctimonious twat.

You sanctimonious twat, you.

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Oh cr@p - I thought it was only 2000... I best get posting some more, and pronto...

Can I 'borrow' one, you know, use it now... please? I'll pay an extra 1000 posts for it and not use it again until I hit 6000...:p

Re: Moving to the US but working on contract for UK company
 

Anyway, not much more point to this thread. The OP's shown what he thinks and yet still got his answers, so might as well close the thread before it gets any sillier :/