Resident in Germany, working remotely for the UK

Since you have no employer that can fulfil the German statutory requirements, you are classified as freelancer/self-employed. Please note that this will involve a lot of administrative and formal complications (business and VAT registration, accountancy, billing, taxation, all in German language of course), for which you may have to engage professional help (for a fee). This was discussed several times before on the forum.

Income tax is generally paid where the work is performed (not where payment is made). I assume the tax treaty with UK prevents it from being taxed again in UK - but you better check that (and engage a good tax consultant to sort things out for you!).
Whether you think VAT alone is taxation enough does not change the fact that legislation says otherwise!

Fantastic thank you! Do you happen to know which I would be? Freelancer, or Gewerbeanmeldung, or something else? From what I can gather, there is multiple different types of essentially being 'self-employed'
And I assume if I am a Gewerbeanmeldung, I would only be taxed after I deduct expenses..?
It's a shame there is no easier way to do this! I thought with COVID19 and things becoming much more virtual there would be more accommodating ways to work remotely

Well, national borders still remain national borders, despite COVID being international ...
About the business registration and tax issues, you better consult a professional!

What kind of Aufenthaltstitel do you hold?

ALKB wrote:

What kind of Aufenthaltstitel do you hold?

.

C.h.r.istin@J wrote:

- I am a resident of Germany (Aufenthaltstitel) which will require renewal in 2024

OP said they had an Aufenthaltstitel, but not all of them allow employment and some may allow employment but not self-employment.

Ah I understand, sorry guys I didn't know there was a difference! I'm not sure how to tell what type I hold, but I'm currently employed by a German company so I assume it's the Aufenthaltstitel that allows work

C.h.r.istin@J wrote:

Ah I understand, sorry guys I didn't know there was a difference! I'm not sure how to tell what type I hold, but I'm currently employed by a German company so I assume it's the Aufenthaltstitel that allows work

Would you be quitting your German job to take up the UK one?

Did your employer sponsor you to come to Germany? Did you come as a spouse of a German or European national? Did you come as a student?

Your Aufenthaltstitel should have a the word 'Anmerkungen' to the right side of your photo.

What does it say below the word 'Anmerkungen'?

What does it say below 'Art des Titels'?

Hey ALKB, thank you for the help!
- Yes I'd be quitting my German employer for the UK one
- nope, no sponsorship, spouse or national. I applied for a German work visa and ended up with this Aufenthaltstitel
- below Anmerkungen it says:
19c ABS. 1 i. V. m. 26 ABS. 1 BeschV
-below Art des titles it says:
Aufenthaltserlaubnis

C.h.r.istin@J wrote:

Hey ALKB, thank you for the help!
- Yes I'd be quitting my German employer for the UK one
- nope, no sponsorship, spouse or national. I applied for a German work visa and ended up with this Aufenthaltstitel
- below Anmerkungen it says:
19c ABS. 1 i. V. m. 26 ABS. 1 BeschV
-below Art des titles it says:
Aufenthaltserlaubnis

Para 26 (1) BeschV includes a Vorrangprüfung - did you already have a job offer when you applied for the Aufenthaltserlaubnis?

yep! But I am leaving that company, October is my last month there

C.h.r.istin@J wrote:

yep! But I am leaving that company, October is my last month there

How long have you been with this company and are you leaving because you quit or is your contract up and is not getting extended?

Did you get any letters or a 'Zusatzblatt' with your Aufenthaltserlaubnis? Usually, an Aufenthaltserlaubnis can only get extended if the same conditions as at the time of issuance still apply.

This situation is too complex for remote 'diagnosis' without seeing all the documents.

Personally, I would not risk taking on that UK job and hoping to fly under the radar. Apart from the likelihood that a job in a different country (and now a non-EU country to boot) would not sustain your residence permit, how will you pay your mandatory health insurance, social contributions, etc.?  If you go the self-employment route, you first need to make sure your residence permit allows this, which so far is not at all clear.

You need professional advice - either from a lawyer specializing in Ausländerrecht or from the Ausländerbehörde.

We had this kind of topic very often recently (basically since Brexit).
A foreign and especially a non-EU employer cannot fulfil the German requirements for an employer - they aren't registered in Germany, cannot subtract and forward to German authorities and insurers the compulsory deductions for taxes and social security. Therefore, in formal terms, you'd have no employer here.
Being self-employed is, while complicated, of course possible. But the added layer of administrative responsibilities (for which you have to engage professional help if you aren't near-fluent in German, tax law and accountancy) and cost (no employer to payshalf of your health and other compulsory insurances!) makes this unattractive in most cases.
And if you depend on this "employment" to justify your visa and stay in Germany, the best advice is: Don't!

Hi may i know how did it go at the end ? I’m in similar situation working for a Thai company and I’m having permanent residency in Germany

@DelavegaE sadly it wasn’t fun or easy at all. I ended up engaging an accountant to sort all the complicated German tax things for me. I had to become a self-employed freelancer.

there’s a number of caveats to it so be careful (your tax accountant should be able to explain it better) but basically I was able to get approval from the tax authority to only have one client during my first year, but then I needed to have 3+ clients, and no single client could provide more than 50% of my total income…

As a side note, there’s an online platform called Get Sorted. This was a HUGE help with managing my expenses, submitting all the taxes throughout the year etc. I’d highly recommend you use this too (it’s all in English)

@C.h.r.istin@J  Hi there

I have just moved to Germany from the UK, with EU passport.

I an planning to work for my old company but as a contractor for 3 months work spread through 6 months. Max of £10 000.

The Uk company is an eye hospital - I was a manager working remotely.

I was reading a lot but not sure if I need to open a self- employed company or to be a freelancer.

Do you think you can explain a bit more about the process and how much taxes, insurances, invoices, what kind of bank accounts I should have?

Thank you

Vanga

@Mihailova Vanja Freelancing ("Freiberufler") is restricted to a limited number of professions in Germany. All others need to register a business before practising their profession as self-employed (Source).

If you need to register a business and are not fluent in legalese German, it is better to engage a professional to set things up for you.

@C.h.r.istin@J  Hi there

I am in a similar situation. Looking to move to Germany for initial term of one year and continue working as a lawyer for a UK firm. Would you please be able to let me know which accountant/companies you used to be able to arrange your status as self-employed/freelancer? Many thanks.

@C.h.r.istin@J Hi there
I am in a similar situation. Looking to move to Germany for initial term of one year and continue working as a lawyer for a UK firm. Would you please be able to let me know which accountant/companies you used to be able to arrange your status as self-employed/freelancer? Many thanks.
-@Pienali

There are many tax advisors in Germany known as a Steuerberater. One is advicsed to find one in the city where they will reside.

I doubt one can work as a lawyer, especially self-employed,  in Germany without having a high C1 level of German and having passed the German bar exam - difficult for one who didn't go to law school in Germany. One might be able work for a UK firm as mentioned limited to giving advice about UK law but not actually practising law in Germany without the proper licensing.

@TominStuttgart Thanks Tom. Essentially, I just cannot find a route online which would apply to my situation. I have a good income to support myself, I have a German partner there (although not married or marrying soon) and I just want to be able to live in Germany for at least one year and be able to still work for my UK company job. I would assume I would need a work permit as it would exceed 180 days of working in Germany (even though it is for a company outside of Germany) but I cannot understand which route I would take to allow me to obtain a Visa/which category I would fall under. I am happy to pay some taxes/insurance in Germany too. If anyone could guide me to some route to proceed on that would be amazing.

@Pienali This has been discussed numerous times, for example above in this thread.

In short: You need a visa allowing work (which is difficult to get for a freelancer/self-employed), you must then do German business registration (likely complex for lawyers), accounting, taxation and contribute to  German health insurance (which is costly for self-employed).

And: Is your ex-employer in the UK prepared to treat you as external consultant and pay you for proper (German) invoices you issue?

@TominStuttgart Thanks Tom. Essentially, I just cannot find a route online which would apply to my situation. I have a good income to support myself, I have a German partner there (although not married or marrying soon) and I just want to be able to live in Germany for at least one year and be able to still work for my UK company job. I would assume I would need a work permit as it would exceed 180 days of working in Germany (even though it is for a company outside of Germany) but I cannot understand which route I would take to allow me to obtain a Visa/which category I would fall under. I am happy to pay some taxes/insurance in Germany too. If anyone could guide me to some route to proceed on that would be amazing.
-@Pienali

There isn´t a visa route for absolutely every conceivable scenario.

What you want to do would have been relatively easy before Brexit but since UK nationals have become third country nationals, I am not aware of any visa category in Germany that would be a fit for you.

Germany does not have a digital nomad/remote worker visa at this point in time.

I would add that I don't know much about inter-company transfers. If there is a loophole then it would possibly be in the rules governing this. Maybe you can be recognized as the sole representative of the company in Germany? At least (as I understand) it is an EU/Schengen based one, otherwise I doubt it would even come in question. But not sure what obstacles it would present for the company to do this. If they have to then register and deal with licenses, taxes etc. all just to make it possible for you to be there, then it sounds unlikely. Like what do they get out of it, unless you are somehow an irreplaceable vital employee? I’m guessing that if they had the structure in place to do this then you would already know about it – if you are openly letting your employer know of your intended plan.