Working remotely from Spain

B

BongoBangoBingo

Registered User
Messages
21
Hi all,

I'm an Irish citizen investigating the possibility of working remotely for perhaps 1-2 months in Spain

I'm seeing conflicting information online, some sources say as long as you do not reside in a country for half or more of the year, you are not tax resident and will not be liable to pay tax to the destination country

Other things seem to say that Spanish tax is due on any income generated while in Spain, so if you work for one day in Spain, you will owe Spanish tax

If anyone has any insight or experience on this topic, I would greatly appreciate it, thanks
 
First step is your employer if you have one. A lot of companies have restrictions on this and it is unique to each firm depending on their legal entity set up.

If you are self employed, you could check with your accountant if you have engaged one?
 
misemoi said:
First step is your employer if you have one. A lot of companies have restrictions on this and it is unique to each firm depending on their legal entity set up.

If you are self employed, you could check with your accountant if you have engaged one?
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Thanks for the reply

I'm an employee. My employer is supportive of the idea but has asked me to do my research as to the tax implications
 
If you've been given conflicting advice online then surely this is only another place where you will receive the same. You need to talk to an accountant with experience of this. You certainly would be unwise to rely on such advice if it means you have a tax liability.

If you do have one in Spain, are you prepared to fill out Spanish tax forms. I've no idea how you'd do that, nor if it's self assessed like Ireland. Also no idea if Ireland will give you credit for employment tax paid in Spain on your Irish paid employment. But I suspect their is a Tax treaty at play here.
 
Tax in Spain:- Let's forget about opinions and stick with the facts. If you reside in Spain for 183 days or more during the Calendar Year you are subject to Spanish Revenue Laws where you are obliged to pay tax on your worldly income. Revenue in Ireland will advise the Spanish authorities too once your're not resident in Ireland for 183 days in the Calendar Year.

Note:- Whatever "investment" is tax free in Ireland will not be tax free in Spain (another fact)
 
Seems quite possible if not even likely that someone with the knowledge I'm after is on here, perhaps having gone through the process I'm talking about. That's why I'm asking the question
 
Thanks, I've seen thee 183 days thing online alright. Is it your understanding then that if I work remotely from Spain for less than 183 days, I have no tax obligations to Spain?
 
20 working days remotely based per year seems to be a standard in some large MNCs such as Facebook.
 
BongoBangoBingo said:
Thanks, I've seen thee 183 days thing online alright. Is it your understanding then that if I work remotely from Spain for less than 183 days, I have no tax obligations to Spain?
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Let's be clear here. The Spanish Tax Year runs 1st January - 31st December (like ours). If 184 days of your presence in Spain falls within this, you are liable to pay tax in Spain (and likely they'll send you the bill by courier). Be careful of some websites as many of the contributors are from the UK and their tax year runs from early April to early April.
 
Yes, so if I was comfortably under this, 100 days spent in Spain working for instance, I wouldn't owe any Spanish tax?
 
BongoBangoBingo said:
Thanks for the reply

I'm an employee. My employer is supportive of the idea but has asked me to do my research as to the tax implications
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You will also need to research the legal implications,
eg
Do you stand to gain Spanish employment rights from this arrangements?
Do you stand to lose corresponding Irish employment rights?
What happens your social insurance obligations and entitlements?

As will your employer.

I agree that you will need proper advice on this.
 
odyssey06 said:
The company policy may have been informed by those perspectives.
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The companies will also be wary of having to comply with the employment laws of the foreign country. It's a tricky situation for both parties, so a 20 day limit is seen as avoiding the possibility of being considered resident and having additional compliance obligations on the employer and employee.
 
I think you need to get professional advice, but you'll need to find someone with relevant knowledge and experience of the interactions between Spanish and Irish tax and employment law.
 
Perhaps I am a little cautious on this, but the employer should be dictating the terms, not sending you out to do it. They could leave themselves liable for taxes so I am surprised that they are not looking into this themselves. Maybe if an SME they are a little more laissez faire but there has been plenty of media talk on this so it is not some one off request.

In the event that this gets messed up, you could probably expect the same response from them...sort it out for yourself. I actually like that my employer has clear rules around this, so I know I personally am not falling foul of any tax issues, as restrictive as it may be.
 
misemoi said:
Perhaps I am a little cautious on this, but the employer should be dictating the terms, not sending you out to do it.
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If the OP has expressed outline interest in it, it's quite reasonable that they've asked him/her to do some preliminary research on it at his/her own expense to establish whether or not may be feasible. If it turns out that it might be, then they can spend some money on doing their own research, establishing terms etc.
 
My understanding (might not be fully accurate) is activities carried out in Spain are generally subject to Spanish tax, irrespective of where you are a tax resident.

A simple example is an Irish tax resident renting out property in Spain must pay Spanish tax on that activity.

Your intention is to move temporarily to Spain and to work from there. Strictly speaking you are not entering the country as a tourist. To be fully legal, the activity should be declared to the Spanish authorities and would be subject to Spanish income tax and probably also to Spanish social insurance contributions etc.
 
Just wondering how healthcare might be covered.

Will the EHIC cover work or would you need to register locally
 
Generally in the EU, any rental income from a property is taxable in the country where the property is. It is also taxable in the country of residence of the owner but you will normally get credit for the tax paid in the country where the property lies.

Earned income is different and can be taxed in one, the other or both depending on the double taxation treaty between the two countries in question.

Also, it is up to each country to decide on the status of remote workers and their earnings

You need professional advice here - and the company employing you needs to be get advice too
 
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