How to do freelance work in the uk from abroad ?

Question

My partner and I are moving to France as I have a job opportunity there.

Her current employer in London is considering offering her some free lance work.

We do not know what is the best approach :

- can she be based in France and be a French tax payer and work freelance from there?

- can she be base in France, be a French tax payer and have some form of freelance attachment in the UK ?

- can she still be a british taxpayer and bill from the UK while living in France

Personally i will be a French tax payer having a full time job there.

Answer 1

If your partner meets the conditions to be treated as non resident in the UK and does all of the self employed work abroad then it is not liable to UK tax  and does not need to be declared here, even if it is work for a UK company. If she were to do some of the self employed work in the UK for a short time, then it would be potentially liable to UK tax. It would depend if she had a fixed base or permenent establishment to work from in the UK.

See the IR20 and the UK/France Double Taxation Agreement.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/C9.htm  

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/dtmanual/...

Answer 2

If she is based in France, then she should be a French taxpayer.  She will of course be able to accept UK-based freelance assignments and should ensure that her employer has her recorded as non-resident for tax purposes, meaning that she should not be deducted any tax in the UK.  But she will need to complete a tax return in France at the end of the financial year and declare all earnings on it, and she will need to pay tax.

I would advise that you speak with a tax professional in France to start with, as penalties are high for those who do not pay taxes correctly, even if it is an honest mistake.  Once she's had the system explained to her, she should be fine to file her own taxes from then on.