Living in Ireland, Working in Australia

HHH

Hi all,

I've been living and working in Sydney for the past 3 years as a Quantity Surveyor.
I'm planning on moving home to Ireland next year and my company has asked me to continue working for them as an external consultant. I can find very little information online about making this possible.

Has anyone any experience with a similar situation?
What are the tax implications involved?
Being on a 457 Visa are there any additional factors I need to take into consideration?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

aido79

HHH wrote: »

Hi all,

I've been living and working in Sydney for the past 3 years as a Quantity Surveyor.
I'm planning on moving home to Ireland next year and my company has asked me to continue working for them as an external consultant. I can find very little information online about making this possible.

Has anyone any experience with a similar situation?
What are the tax implications involved?
Being on a 457 Visa are there any additional factors I need to take into consideration?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

You would be better off getting in touch with immigration but I would imagine you would be in violation of the basic terms of the 457 visa by both working outside Australia and by staying outside Australia for an extended period of time.

Peregrinus

Surely the OP could avoid violating the terms of his 457 visa by simply giving it up?

Australian are free to purchase goods and services from residents of other countries. You don't need any kind of visa to sell goods or services into Australia from another country.

OP, there are tax issues. You'd be a resident of Ireland, running what amounts to an export business in Ireland (the "export" being consultancy services). You'd be taxable in Ireland on the profits of that business. You'd want to check whether there was any Australian obligation imposed on your customer to withhold any tax out of payments made to you and, if there was, whether there are arrangements whereby you can get that refunded to you, or get a credit for it against your Irish tax liability.

You could ask the Australian company whether they currently purchase services from other non-residents as they propose to do with you and, if so, how that works as regards tax, withholding, etc. And I think if you're going to do this you'll probably want to speak to an Irish accountant regarding the tax implications at the Irish end.

irishmover

We outsource alot of work to an Indian company. I don't see how this is any different as long as you go self employed in Ireland?

You'll just have exclusivity to an overseas client.

googled eyes

Some daily commute !

*sorry

aido79

irishmover wrote: »

We outsource alot of work to an Indian company. I don't see how this is any different as long as you go self employed in Ireland?

You'll just have exclusivity to an overseas client.

That would probably be a better option for the OP. Cancel the 457 visa as there is no reason to be on if not living in Australia and become self employed in Ireland as a subcontractor to his current company.
As you would be a resident for tax purposes in Ireland rather than Australia it would be advisable to get some information from an accountant who deals with international taxes.

Noo

Thanks for starting this thread! I may be in the exact same situation, when I go back to ireland my company have mentioned theyd send some projects my way, but its only a small company so if it ends up being way too complicated it probably won't happen.

HHH

Thanks for the replies, I'll look into it further in the coming weeks ie contact an accountant in Ireland and have the accounts department have a look at how we can proceed. I'll update the thread for anyone interested!

Mellor

aido79 wrote: »

You would be better off getting in touch with immigration but I would imagine you would be in violation of the basic terms of the 457 visa by both working outside Australia and by staying outside Australia for an extended period of time.

He won't be on a 457 when he moved homes.

aido79 wrote: »

That would probably be a better option for the OP. Cancel the 457 visa as there is no reason to be on if not living in Australia and become self employed in Ireland as a subcontractor to his current company

I don't think he even needs to bother cancel it. It'll be void once he's away for a certain amount of time. Regardless, even if it was explicitly forbidden to work for the 457 employer after you leave (its not though), Australian immigration law does not affect him when he is living in Ireland.

As you would be a resident for tax purposes in Ireland rather than Australia it would be advisable to get some information from an accountant who deals with international taxes.

He'd be living in Ireland, tax resident in ireland, earning money in Ireland via online work. No international taxes involved. He simply be earning money online and it's probably no different to any other online consultant. Tax liable in ireland for the work.

Peregrinus

Mellor wrote: »

He'd be living in Ireland, tax resident in ireland, earning money in Ireland via online work. No international taxes involved. He simply be earning money online and it's probably no different to any other online consultant. Tax liable in ireland for the work.

Yes, he's definitely definitely liable to Irish tax. The question is, does he also have any liablity to Australian tax as a non-resident of Australia with Australian source income? Or is there any possibility that if he omits to cancel or surrender the visa, he'll be treated until it expires as an Australian resident for tax purposes?

Mellor

Peregrinus wrote: »

Yes, he's definitely definitely liable to Irish tax. The question is, does he also have any liablity to Australian tax as a non-resident of Australia with Australian source income?

Income source is irrelevant. The money is earned in ireland (as a non-resident of Australia). The fact his main client is Australian means nothing. Just like if I pay for services/goods online (as an Australian resident), the company doesn't owe tax to Australia based on my payments.

If he was tax resident in Australia, he's be liable for his worldwide earnings - and possibly not liable in ireland.

Or is there any possibility that if he omits to cancel or surrender the visa, he'll be treated until it expires as an Australian resident for tax purposes?

Nah, as a temporary foreign resident, he is no longer a resident for tax purposes from the day he leaves to live in another country.
As long as he is setting up a home in Ireland, and isn't just leaving australia temporarily of course.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Calculators-and-tools/Residency-status---leaving-Australia/

irishmover

Mellor wrote: »

Income source is irrelevant. The money is earned in ireland (as a non-resident of Australia). The fact his main client is Australian means nothing. Just like if I pay for services/goods online (as an Australian resident), the company doesn't owe tax to Australia based on my payments.

If he was tax resident in Australia, he's be liable for his worldwide earnings - and possibly not liable in ireland.


Nah, as a temporary foreign resident, he is no longer a resident for tax purposes from the day he leaves to live in another country.
As long as he is setting up a home in Ireland, and isn't just leaving australia temporarily of course.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Calculators-and-tools/Residency-status---leaving-Australia/

In a nutshell he/she needs to setup as self employed in Ireland and follow Irish tax laws. He/she will technically no longer work for the company and thus will need to negotiate a price for his product/service with them. To which he/she will pay tax in Ireland for. Can forget about Visas none of that applies.

Dats_rite

Myself and my wife moved back to Ireland in July. Since then she has worked for her Australian company here and is working until the end of September.

She is getting paid her normal salary and taxed in the same way.

So does this mean that in next years tax return she ticks the not resident for tax purposes? And will she get back all tax withheld in Australia for this tax year?

aido79

Dats_rite wrote: »

Myself and my wife moved back to Ireland in July. Since then she has worked for her Australian company here and is working until the end of September.

She is getting paid her normal salary and taxed in the same way.

So does this mean that in next years tax return she ticks the not resident for tax purposes? And will she get back all tax withheld in Australia for this tax year?

Why would she get all of her tax back? People who are Non resident for tax purposes usually pay more tax than people are resident for tax purposes because they are not entitled to tax credits. I think your situation could get messy if the Irish revenue become aware of this because your wife should really be classed as a resident for tax purposes in Ireland and paying tax on her world wide income to the Irish revenue.

Peregrinus

There is a distinction between (a) an Irish resident who is self-employed, and sell services to a customer in Australia, and (b) an Irish resident who holds an Australian employment.

In case (a), there's no liability to tax in Australia (but there is in Ireland).

In case (b), there is a liability in Australia to income tax on the Australian-source employment income. There is also a liability to Irish income tax on the worldwide income of an Irish resident. The Ireland-Australia Double Taxation Agreement should come into play to provide relief from double taxation of this income, but exactly how this plays out and what practical steps need to be taken to obtain relief is beyond me. Dats-rite's wife should definitely lay out a few shillings on getting advice from an accountant or tax adviser who will steer her through this in the best way.

Mellor

Dats_rite wrote: »

Myself and my wife moved back to Ireland in July. Since then she has worked for her Australian company here and is working until the end of September.

She is getting paid her normal salary and taxed in the same way.

So does this mean that in next years tax return she ticks the not resident for tax purposes? And will she get back all tax withheld in Australia for this tax year?

Possibly not, it sounds like she is still being paid as an employee. Despite the fact that she is overseas, the work is being done within the Australian company.

She should have engaged in a contractor role for 3 months, and been paid the full salary tax free, in that regard there would have been no tax liability to australia.

I'd advise her to contact ATO or and explain her case before filing a return. You can do this in advance of the end of financial year.
Explain that she was working from ireland. It may be possible to get it classes as overseas income - in which case she'll be a non-resident and get it all back.

Or they might not...

aido79 wrote: »

Why would she get all of her tax back?.

Because a non resisting for tax purposes has no tax liability to Australia for money earned overseas.