Tax implications of working from home while abroad

Many employees worked abroad throughout 2020 primarily to be with their families during the Covid-19 pandemic. However due to the initial urgency many employers did not formalise any contractual arrangements owing to more pressing matters. Nor did they consider the potential income tax and social security implications that could arise as a consequence of the employee working outside the UK.

The primary concern for many owner-managed businesses and not-for-profit organisations at the outset of the pandemic was to keep their businesses going. They also wanted to ensure that for those employees who continued to work they did so in a safe place with their families. Once the initial impact of the pandemic had settled only then did they consider the question: where are our employees working?

An employee working from home but abroad could be the first time the organisation has needed to consider...