Changing from UK Staff (part-time) to Germany Contractor (full-time)

I am afraid you are expecting too much from this forum and its volunteers:

• We (at least here on the Germany forum) are not knowledgeable about UK taxes. So you should place your first question on the UK forum or, even better, ask a tax consultant in your country.
• How your German company would be treated for VAT and other taxes is also unlikely to be answered here - few Expats ever come across this topic and giving such advice is anyway reserved (by law) for registered tax consultants.

That said, here is mylimited knowledge (without guarantee):

• Living and working in Germany, you will definitely be income-taxed here (on your world income). A UK-Germany tax treaty might avoid double taxation in UK - check that!
• I don't understand why you want to be "contractor" of the GmbH you set up. More likely, you will be its employee. And your curent UK employer (not "employee", I assume you mistyped that) then becomes your customer.
• Since the formal requirements on company registration, licensing, accountancy and taxation are quite complex and everything has to be done in (buerocratic) German, I strongly recommend engaging professional help for this. The associated fees will eat a considerable portion your profits, but doing things wrong here can be a criminal offense and get you into deep trouble!
• Last not least, don't underestimate the cost of (compulsory) health and other social insurances: Employees get half of this covered by their employer. If you are self-employed (not hired by your GmbH),you can skip unemployment and retirement insurance - but you might want to join them voluntarily.

I am afraid you are expecting too much from this forum and its volunteers:
We (at least here on the Germany forum) are not knowledgeable about UK taxes. So you should place your first question on the UK forum or, even better, ask a tax consultant in your country.
How your German company would be treated for VAT and other taxes is also unlikely to be answered here - few Expats ever come across this topic and giving such advice is anyway reserved (by law) for registered tax consultants.
That said, here is mylimited knowledge (without guarantee):
Living and working in Germany, you will definitely be income-taxed here (on your world income). A UK-Germany tax treaty might avoid double taxation in UK - check that!
I don't understand why you want to be "contractor" of the GmbH you set up. More likely, you will be its employee. And your curent UK employer (not "employee", I assume you mistyped that) then becomes your customer.
Since the formal requirements on company registration, licensing, accountancy and taxation are quite complex and everything has to be done in (buerocratic) German, I strongly recommend engaging professional help for this. The associated fees will eat a considerable portion your profits, but doing things wrong here can be a criminal offense and get you into deep trouble!
Last not least, don't underestimate the cost of (compulsory) health and other social insurances: Employees get half of this covered by their employer. If you are self-employed (not hired by your GmbH),you can skip unemployment and retirement insurance - but you might want to join them voluntarily.
-@beppi

No one is qualified to work out or advise Taxes on the UK pages. "We" all will say seek an Accountant.

Hi there,
I am a UK national who has been working for a UK company for 6+ years. I changed from full-time to part-time in September 2022.

I will be moving to Germany in Q1 2024 to accompany my wife while she studies in Germany. Despite being a non-EU national (hurray Brexit...) I can get a Family Reunion visa to Germany which enables me to work there. Our living costs will be much higher than the UK which requires me switch to working full-time. My company is on-board with me working from Germany, however is concerned about how tax is paid. I have suggested to them that I can set up a limited company in Germany (GmbH) which they can hire, whilst I work as a contractor for my GmbH.


Will I be liable for UK tax/IR35? I believe not as I will be in living Germany, paying German taxes and will no longer have anything to do with the HMRC.
Taking my salary into account, my company will have to be VAT-registered in Germany. How does the VAT (return) work when selling a service to a UK customer (my current employee)?
Thanks in advance
-@danyjr

In addition to what Beppi said:

Is your wife German, an EU national or British?

Will she be on a student visa, exercising freedom of movementm or study in her home country?

Depending on her status, there may be restrictions on your ability to work at all, or be self-employed/register a company.

Living and working in Germany, you will definitely be income-taxed here (on your world income). A UK-Germany tax treaty might avoid double taxation in UK - check that!
I don't understand why you want to be "contractor" of the GmbH you set up. More likely, you will be its employee. And your curent UK employer (not "employee", I assume you mistyped that) then becomes your customer.
Since the formal requirements on company registration, licensing, accountancy and taxation are quite complex and everything has to be done in (buerocratic) German, I strongly recommend engaging professional help for this. The associated fees will eat a considerable portion your profits, but doing things wrong here can be a criminal offense and get you into deep trouble!
Last not least, don't underestimate the cost of (compulsory) health and other social insurances: Employees get half of this covered by their employer. If you are self-employed (not hired by your GmbH),you can skip unemployment and retirement insurance - but you might want to join them voluntarily.
-@beppi

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate this is not a topic anyone other than high level tax consultants would be familiar with, but I thought it worth a shot!

Indeed I will be an employee for my GmbH. Maybe I can even be a freelancer without setting up my company? One thing for sure, I would like to pay my taxes ) in Germany so I can use them as evidence should I seek German permanent residency in the future. I understand the fees will be high but I'm hoping to convince my current UK employer to pay for parts of it.

Is your wife German, an EU national or British?

Will she be on a student visa, exercising freedom of movementm or study in her home country?

Depending on her status, there may be restrictions on your ability to work at all, or be self-employed/register a company.
-@ALKB

My wife is a non-EU national and not a UK citizen. She will be studying her Master's degree in Germany on a student visa.

Is your wife German, an EU national or British?

Will she be on a student visa, exercising freedom of movementm or study in her home country?

Depending on her status, there may be restrictions on your ability to work at all, or be self-employed/register a company.
-@ALKB
My wife is a non-EU national and not a UK citizen. She will be studying her Master's degree in Germany on a student visa.
-@danyjr

In that case, to be considered for a dependent visa, which is not guaranteed as Germany takes the view that family members of third country citizen students should be granted a residence permit as an exception only.

You will have to show big enough accommodation, health insurance and enough funds to sustain both of you without working.

To get work authorization or authorization for self employment, you need permission from the Agentur für Arbeit. Access to the labour market for family members of students is not automatic.

@ALKB Thanks for your reply. We have been saving up for the relocation for a while. Would 40,000€ in savings be enough to show financial ability? I am certain we can take care of the costs such as residential rent and health insurance.

@ALKB Thanks for your reply. We have been saving up for the relocation for a while. Would 40,000€ in savings be enough to show financial ability? I am certain we can take care of the costs such as residential rent and health insurance.
-@danyjr

40k is probably enough for two years. All I am saying is, that work authorization for you may be given but is not guaranteed.

I don´t see any reason why you shouldn´t be allowed to work, but I also didn´t see any reason why my friend from Australia, in Berlin as a dependent spouse of a work permit holder, was denied the right to work for the first two years in Germany.

@danyjr

According to EU directives, the spouse of one on a study visa usually has the right to work full time if they were already married. The student has a right to work limited part-time. These issues have been covered at length on other threads. The catch for some is when they plan to marry afterwards then it might not work although I assume exceptions might be possible.

The thing is that officials don't want foreigners being destitute in Germany. Thus both the student and spouse have to put enough money into a blocked German bank account to cover living expenses. This is required whether they manage to work or not. The current amount is 11,207/year. One cannot just say, „oh, well be working and earn the money". If it works out that way, then good for you. But the kind of jobs available for part-time are usually not well paid. And a spouse who doesn't have highly demanded skills and speak good German is not likely to find something paying more than minimum wage either - if they find work at all.

From page 30 of the below publication Broshure: Studying and Working in Germany on the German Immigartion Authority (BAMF) website; "Was your spouse issued a residence permit as a student, employee or self-employed person? You were already married at this time? Then you have the right to obtain a residence permit if you plan to stay in Germany for more than one year (see section 30 subs. 1 No. 3e Residence Act) and you meet the other requirements. Did you get married after your spouse received a residence permit? Then you can only receive a residence permit if you meet the general require-ments and your spouse has had a residence permit for two years."

Source:

https://www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/ … e&v=12

Thank you for your replies. We have been together for 3+ years and married for about a year. I understand working in Germany as a spouse of a student is not an immediate right, but I will seek legal advice to increase my chances to being able to work in Germany.

Question: Provided I get paperwork approved to able to work in Germany, does this necessarily mean I will have to work for a company as an employee? Will I also be able to work as a freelancer or set up my own company (GmbH?) and work as a consultant?