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Living in Germany and working remotely for a UK company after Brexit.

Last activity 21 December 2019 by pkennedy1990

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sholtby

Hi All,

I’m quite new to the site and not sure if this is the right place to ask my question. Any help is appreciated.

At the moment I’m living in Cologne Germany with my wife and daughter. We moved here from London around 3 years ago. I got the opportunity to continue working for my employer, which is located in London, UK. I am still on their UK payroll but have my wages transferred to my German bank account.

Brexit is looming and I’m wondering if I can continue working for my employer. As the Brexit exiting conditions haven’t been completely set yet, it’s quite difficult finding the right information on this.
Does anyone know if I can continue working for my employer or will I need to go freelance(not sure if this is legal).

Thanks for your help!

TominStuttgart

This is a detail I can’t answer with authority but I don’t know if anyone can. But you should look at the German immigration authority website bamf.de and figure out if you can get Niederlassungserlaubnis which is the most permeant (more correctly said, unlimited) level of residency. If you get it then it won’t be revoked just because the UK leaves the EU. If you wait then it might be a risk. And I know many UK citizens who have been living here long enough have been getting German citizenship to be sure.

Cynic

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

We don't know for certain as the deed has not yet been done, but up until now, on the question of the Brexit treatment of non-nation resident citizens, reciprocation seems to be the name of the game here, in other words, you be nice to us and we'll be nice to you.  That said we're to shortly get a new Prime Minister who may walk all over that.

So, I guess that as long as you're registered in Germany and paying all your taxes and health insurance etc, then nothing much will change; as Tom has already said, it may be worthwhile speaking to the German authorities to see if there is anything you can do now in preparation.

My daughter lives across the border in Holland, all the Brits had to do there was be registered so that the national authority knew where they were and could update their status from EU citizen to permanent residence.  Many have opted for Dutch nationality (as Tom mentioned for German residence).

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

GuestPoster75

Nothing to do with Brexit but it is my understanding that if you are living full time in Germany, regardless of UK payroll, you are to pay tax in Germany.  Is that incorrect... I am looking to do the same as you but my company has said its a tax issue because technically if you are outside of the UK 180 + (whatever that magic number is) then you do not have to pay tax in the UK on your UK wages. AND, I know from experience that you can claim that back after the fact.  Sorry I didn’t answer your question and hope I didn’t open a different can of worms for you...

beppi

CCFCUK: You usually pay income tax where you live, regardless of where and how the income is paid.
This, of course, is just a rule-of-thumb and oversimplifies the jungle of international tax rules. As long as the UK are still member of the EU, double taxation is avoided by tax treaties - but after that nobody knows.

pkennedy1990

I'd look into trying to get German citizenship if you really want to stay there. If I can't get a job soon I may have to "Brexit" myself back to the UK because you can't claim Jobseekers Allowance from the UK if you're outside the UK. And there's no way to get the "income based" version of that anywhere else other than the UK. EU membership meant freedom of movement meant live+work not "claim public benefit." I've known that all along (and if not all I have to do is have the Irish, British or French Embassies remind me of it) I'm sitting here thinking, I came here because I wanted a JOB, dammit. "Collecting" "the dole" yeah I could have done that back in the UK or Ireland.

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