# Working remotely for a US company



## Kyarius (30 Oct 2019)

Hi there - I feel like I must be missing something here, since this seems too simple a question for all the no information I can find online/on ROS about it.

I am a permanent resident of Ireland, and have been for 10 years. I recently started a job working remotely as a contractor for a globally distributed company, headquartered in the US. Since this is foreign income, I assume that the onus is on me to figure out the tax, and I can't imagine how it could be going through PAYE. How do I pay income tax, USC and PRSI?

"Tax registrations" on Revenue's myAccount service has a single link at present - Income Tax - which appears to be for a business, as it asks for a NACE code and an expected turnover. Adding a job on myAccount asks for a tax registration code - I assume that to be an Irish tax registration code, which I figure this company won't have.

I can't be the only person in Ireland working remotely for a company overseas, so what am I missing and how do I pay?

Thanks in advance!


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## Setanta12 (30 Oct 2019)

Define what you yourself mean when you describe yourself as a contractor.  Likely you'renot and your US employer has PAYE obligations here.

Unless you're an Irish-defined contractor, do not register for income tax as a sole-trader.


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## Kyarius (31 Oct 2019)

The company I work for isn't registered in Ireland, so specifically I signed a contract that said I wasn't an employee of theirs and was essentially simply agreeing to do work for them in exchange for money on an indefinite basis.


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## Setanta12 (4 Nov 2019)

That's American law.  Under Irish law, whether they like it or not ... you definitley sound like an Irish employee.

Do you have any other clients etc, or have to be available for a set amount of hours per week or can you exercise control over how you do your work and canyou hire others to do the actual work for you?  If not, you're an emooyee and the costs to the American company are increasing by minimum 20% (Irish social security and payroll compliance costs)


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## orka (4 Nov 2019)

What happens if the US company just says 'nope, not an Irish employer, not registering' - and just sends the employee/contractor their monthly payment?  Does the employee have to net off employer's PRSI as well as their own tax/PRSI?
It doesn't seem as if Revenue have much power to compel a foreign entity to register so what do they (Revenue) do then? Tell the person not to accept the work/money?


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## zephyro (4 Nov 2019)

orka said:


> It doesn't seem as if Revenue have much power to compel a foreign entity to register so what do they (Revenue) do then? Tell the person not to accept the work/money?



Of course not, in this case the person can only be self-employed.


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## Setanta12 (5 Nov 2019)

zephyro said:


> Of course not, in this case the person can only be self-employed.



The Revenue have powers to compel sister companies of the tax-doding company to pay the tax instead. 

Certainly I think they would throw the book at the individual with various technical enquiries where the individual would need to empoloy his own tax-advisors for these technical questions.  That is though, if they become aware.

This tax-evasion (note, not avoidance!) by the American company means that the individual must register and account for VAT incurring these costs.  The American company will feature very very prominently in the individual's 46G return.

Not worth the risk. Helping tax-evasion.


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## zephyro (5 Nov 2019)

Setanta12 said:


> The Revenue have powers to compel sister companies of the tax-doding company to pay the tax instead.



If the American company and its subsidiaries are not registered and have no presence in Ireland, there is absolutely nothing Revenue can do to compel them to pay tax.



Setanta12 said:


> Certainly I think they would throw the book at the individual with various technical enquiries where the individual would need to empoloy his own tax-advisors for these technical questions.  That is though, if they become aware.



You seem to be assuming this person is an employee as per the Revenue guidelines, but as a fully remote worker they quite possibly have considerable flexibility and control over their hours for example, which may be sufficient to qualify as self-employed. In any case, as a legitimate self-employed contractor I'm well aware that there are many large companies based here with numerous "independent contractors" who are in practice employees, in that the companies exercise exactly the same control over them as the permanent employees sitting nearby. Revenue have done precisely nothing about this evasion to date so it's most unlikely they would "throw the book at the individual with various technical enquiries".


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## Setanta12 (5 Nov 2019)

zephyro said:


> You seem to be assuming this person is an employee as per the Revenue guidelines, but as a fully remote worker they quite possibly have considerable flexibility and control over their hours for example, which may be sufficient to qualify as self-employed. In any case, as a legitimate self-employed contractor I'm well aware that there are many large companies based here with numerous "independent contractors" who are in practice employees, .



Ah the old, "sure, don't they turn a blind eye to it - and will continue to do so" argument.  As a tax-advisor, I had the terrible experience of having clients break down in tears on account of the offshore asset- and the bogus non-resident- accounts they held in the early noughties.  They were told similar things then too, by local accountants and bank managers etc etc.  

Especially with the increasing transparency in the tax-aorld internationally, and digitalisation .. .. .. well, lets just say its easier to discover tax-evasion. Such as yours.


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## Setanta12 (5 Nov 2019)

...


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## Sunny (5 Nov 2019)

Setanta12 said:


> Ah the old, "sure, don't they turn a blind eye to it - and will continue to do so" argument.  As a tax-advisor, I had the terrible experience of having clients break down in tears on account of the offshore asset- and the bogus non-resident- accounts they held in the early noughties.  They were told similar things then too, by local accountants and bank managers etc etc.
> 
> Especially with the increasing transparency in the tax-aorld internationally, and digitalisation .. .. .. well, lets just say its easier to discover tax-evasion. Such as yours.



Why do you keep going on about tax evasion? It has nothing to do with tax evasion. It is an increasingly common work practice albeit a pain in the........ OP you can clarify directly with revenue based on your contact that you are not an employee but you will more than likely need to set up a company or go in under an umbrella structure and pay PAYE, PRSI etc that way. I would suggest contacting one of the contracting agencies in Ireland who might be able to help advise.


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## Setanta12 (5 Nov 2019)

Sunny said:


> Why do you keep going on about tax evasion? It has nothing to do with tax evasion. It is an increasingly common work practice albeit a pain in the........



Simples. The US company should register for PAYE according to the law.  It is not doing so.  It is avoiding Employers PRSI.


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## Setanta12 (5 Nov 2019)

Contracting agencies will take your money and register you.  However it is not correct. (I am speaking as an Irish tax qualified advisor with friends who set up such agencies)

By all means, ignore advice but don't shoot the messenger.


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## JimmyO (5 Nov 2020)

If self employed here in Ireland and working for an American company, where do I pay my Taxes? Here it America???


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## EmmDee (5 Nov 2020)

JimmyO said:


> If self employed here in Ireland and working for an American company, where do I pay my Taxes? Here it America???



Is it a US contract? Were you originally employed in the US. Is your payroll paid out fo the US?


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## Kyarius (6 Nov 2020)

Kind of surprised to see my own post back up here a year later just as I had another question about something else, but for any curious how this panned out, I considered myself self-employed and registered through ROS for Income Tax (in Ireland, not America, JimmyO - if you live here and you're self-employed and happen to be doing work for a US company, but are not strictly an employee of theirs, as was the case with me, I do not see any reason to pay American taxes). 

Also - the company I'm working for has since set up an Irish sub-entity of their UK business, meaning I *am* an employee of theirs now and my taxes from now on are PAYE. Big relief. Just need to file a tax return this year and next, and I can go back to something I'm equipped to deal with.

This year I paid preliminary tax (IT, PRSI, USC) based on the income I earned from my contract work over the year.

Filling out the tax return for 2019 is the mystery I'm currently working through but I'll ask that someplace else.


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