Working abroad through an Irish based company

Hello all,

I am in a bit of a predicament at the moment and I thought what better place to ask than AAM.

Background: Irish LTD company with 1 Irish director and 1 Spanish director. Operating in Ireland a year at this stage with all revenue sourced from Ireland.

Plan: To move to Spain mid next year yet remain operating through the Irish company with the Spanish director continuing to operate through the Irish company but with their part of the company revenue being sourced from Spain. So essentially I will make up the Irish sourced part and my partner the Spanish sourced part.

Essentially I have to relocate out there for personal reasons, partner being Spanish she has beaten me to death at this stage so I have no choice in the matter. I do however want to make the right moves company wise with the Spanish transition.

I will have to commute at least once every fortnight back and forward to Dublin from Spain, my partner will remain there. The question is, can I put my flights down through the company. My office will become Spain as I will be based there. Initially I will be working on Spanish projects run from out of Ireland (which is the reason why the base will be Spain) but I can't say how long that will last. Essentially I am a little bit lost as to how this is all going to work out, obvisouly abiding by Irish law and Spanish law. I will be out of the country (Ireland that is) over the 183 days of the year (not 2008 but certainly 2009). If this is the case, how am I treated tax wise. How do you actually declare your taxes or do the whole residence transfer thing yet remain operating through an Irish based company.

My reason for not setting up in Spain is becuase it is fairly costly comapred to the Irish set up costs. I am also apprehensive as to the decency of English speaking accountants over there and hence dont fancy handing out money hand over fist to some dude that actually does nothing for me.

Another silly question: can you lodge Spanish cheques into an Irish company account and if so, how long do they take to clear??

So that is the dilemma. Any thoughts/help/advice/golden tickets at all???

Re: A big gray area!

1) If the flights are legitimate business flights then they are tax deductable for the company

2) Personal Tax treatment when working abroad see [broken link removed]

3) Ask your bank baout lodgine the cheques, they are not supposed to charge for loding euro cheques but they will take a while to clear (up to three weeks).

Re: A big gray area!

A big gray area!

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Please edit your thread title.

Re: A big gray area!

leviat has answered this very well. If the flights are between your two offices then they are allowable. If you are going home to see friends and family then they are not.

Thanks for the replies guys.

One thing though, how do you actually confirm that your office in Spain is actually an office. Its a base and no doubt that base has to exist for Spanish based work but is there anything else that needs to be declared to the revenue??

As the director of an Irish company, any salary/fees paid to you will be subject to Irish PAYE.

However, as a Spanish resident, I suspect your income will also be subject to Spanish tax and so you will have to claim double taxation relief.

You will need to discuss the possibility that your company will also become Spanish resident with an expert there.

You might also want to look into the future tax residency of your company.One trap is to assume that because the company is Irish registered that it is also Irish resident and subject to Irelands advantageous corporation tax rates.

In reality if the Directors of the company are resident in another European Country (ie Spain in your case) then tax residency is likely to be in Spain and subject to tax there.