Work in UK, receive payments on German bank account

Hi there!

I have recently moved from Germany to the UK, now part-time employee and also self-employed.

I have been self-employed in Germany (small business, just couple of hours a week) before, but decided to now transfer all my "old" German clients to my new UK business. It would however be easier for them if they could continue to pay me in Euro onto my German bank account rather than in GBP to my Scottish account.
Is there anything I need to consider with regards to this? Would I have to pay taxes in Germany as well? I couldn't really find an answer online yet.

Many thanks to everyone!

 

Hello!
I'm afraid I don't have an answer for this but I've just found myself in a very similar situation - I moved back to the UK from Germany a few months ago (registered as self-employed in both countries), but some of my clients still pay into my German bank account. Now I'm coming to sorting my tax returns and I have no idea if I need to pay taxes to Germany as well. I was wondering if you ever got any answers??
Thanks so much!

 

Hi Rachel,

Hope you and your family are coping well during this pandemic.
From what you said above, you should be taxed under Germany's income system, what type of work to do you? As it could differ if its web-based.

Dau
www.moneytreefinancial.co.uk

 

Hi Dau, we're coping well under the circumstances thank you, hope you are as well!
I thought that too... I'm a freelance translator so yes, my work is all online. However, I asked Supertext (the agency that gives me most of my work) about it, and they said all of their payments come out of Switzerland so I definitely shouldn't be taxed in Germany for that work. Furthermore, according to this page https://www.gov.uk/tax-foreign-income/residence, if I've spent more than 183 days of the tax year in the UK (which I just have), then everything I've earned should be taxed in the UK, regardless of where it came from...in which case I should 'abmelden' myself from Germany's system pretty urgently? I'm pretty confused to be honest. I'm going to ring HMRC again tomorrow and see if I can get to the bottom of it.
If you have any advice I'd be really grateful but I understand it might be quite a niche situation!
Rachel

 

Hi Rachel,

It is quite a niche situation, but the solution could be quite simple. Try giving HMRC a call to see what they say. If it's complicated and you need someone to help you with this we can take over for you

Regards,

Dau
www.moneytreefinancial.co.uk

 

Hello again Dau,

So I called HMRC today and I think it's cleared up...

Basically, I think I am technically tax resident in the UK and Germany (from what I can tell, both countries seem to have this '183-day rule' and I somehow managed to be in Germany for over 183 days during the German tax year and in the UK for over 183 days during the UK tax year).

So I reckon the solution is to complete a German tax return for everything I earned in the German tax year, get taxed there and THEN complete a UK tax return for everything I earned in the UK tax year, including the 'foreign income' section where I tell them how much I paid in German taxes - and then because of the double taxation agreement between the UK and Germany, I should get back (at least some of) what I paid in German taxes.

And then at some point I'd better 'abmelden' from the German system so that they don't expect me to submit any tax returns in the future!

I hope any of that made sense... Do you think I've got it right? I feel like I'm either almost there or miles off!

Thanks

Rachel

 

RachelA, FreelanceUK arranged for an overseas freelancing expert to answer your question! Seems to be what you've found out yourself -- TWO tax returns required!
https://www.freelanceuk.com/running...ns-if-i’m-briton-who-freelanced-germany.shtml
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