[shoho]

My ex employers in the UK have approached me re working for them whilst in HK (I am currently on a dependants visa) and I would like to know the legal options.

Can I -

1) work posted in HK, but remain on the UK payrole, do I pay local tax, who would I have to inform and how would I get a visa?

2) register as a sole trader (or HK equivelent) and invoice the UK company for my work. In this case would I have to form my own company in HK, how do I do this, and would I be able to get a visa as a sole trader.

3) set up as a subsidery of the UK company, they apply for the visa, right? What do I need to form a HK company.

So, what would be the best option out of these 3 and does anyone know a good company/visa lawyer in HK???

Cheers

Shoho

[jaykay]

This is complicated! Firstly question 2. You could register as a sole trader after you have made an investment in HK of approx $HK6 million. This will give you residence based on investment and you can do what you like after that!

Question 3. Your company could open a branch in HK and then employ you on a work visa. Opening a limited company here is very similar to the UK, you pay a cost to start the company and you must have the company auditted once a year by law. The company must be registered to a HK address, but that could be a lawyer acting on behalf of you or the company.

Question 1. Very complicated. If you are paid in the UK you are still liable to UK tax and NI contributions. This could cause problems here if you apply for a work visa as the work visa would be granted for you to work here and receive renumration here. So you could find yourself in a double tax situation. If you are working and getting paid exclusively in HK (advisable with low tax rates) you can apply to the Inland Revenue in the UK (which has now merged with the HM Customs and Excise department meaning Tony Blah can come up with yet another load of alphabetic characters describing another brilliant department - yawn) to register as living and working abroad. As long as you are not back in the UK more that 96 days a year you will not be liable for tax in the UK.

I think your ex-company should be doing most of the checking on your behalf if they want you to work here. Surely they have lawyers they can use for this type of thing?

[PDLM]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Question 1. Very complicated. If you are paid in the UK you are still liable to UK tax and NI contributions. This could cause problems here if you apply for a work visa as the work visa would be granted for you to work here and receive renumration here. So you could find yourself in a double tax situation. If you are working and getting paid exclusively in HK (advisable with low tax rates) you can apply to the Inland Revenue in the UK to register as living and working abroad. As long as you are not back in the UK more that 96 days a year you will not be liable for tax in the UK.

Most of that is simply wrong. It makes absolutely no difference to income/salaries tax where you are paid or whether you are employed by a UK cpmpany or a HK company. Many expats in HK are employed by a foreign company and paid into bank accounts in their home country, but their liability to tax is determined by where they actually work and by how many days they are physically present in the country (except in the case of the USA when citizenship also incurs a tax liability). National Insurance is a slightly different issue - and to some extent voluntary depending on whether you wish to keep contributing towards the minimal UK state pension.

Employment Visas in HK are for permission to work in Hong Kong - the impose no condition whatsoever on where you are paid or under which legal regime your employment contract is made.

As of when I was last liable to make a UK tax return (which was two years ago because I had income from property there) it was not necessary to register with the Inland Revenue as being overseas - once you have met certain conditions you simply don't have to fill in a UK tax return anymore. What you do have to complete certification for is if you have property in the UK which you are renting out through an agent then that agent must withhold a certain amount of tax before passing the rent on to you unless you have certified that you are resident overseas.

I recommend that the original poster consults the relevant sections of the UK and HK Inland Revenue websites, and the HK Immigration website, all of which are very good and comprehensive, and give far more definitive answers than the speculation of partly informed (and sometimes misinformed) people on internet chat groups.

[shoho]

hi guys,
thanks for the advice i definately will check out the websies you have mentioned, but if anyone can reccommend a good lawyer i would still very much appreciate it.

Shoho

[PDLM]

KIA,

What happened to our friends at Emigra? They seem to have been very quiet here recently. Are they still Geoexpat's preferred immigration/visa specialists?

[KnowItAll]

Who needs Emigra when we have shweet, helpful, respectful and caring members like yourself.

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Most of that is simply wrong. It makes absolutely no difference to income/salaries tax where you are paid or whether you are employed by a UK cpmpany or a HK company. Many expats in HK are employed by a foreign company and paid into bank accounts in their home country, but their liability to tax is determined by where they actually work and by how many days they are physically present in the country (except in the case of the USA when citizenship also incurs a tax liability). National Insurance is a slightly different issue - and to some extent voluntary depending on whether you wish to keep contributing towards the minimal UK state pension.
renting out through an agent then that agent must withhold a certain amount of tax before passing the rent on to you unless you have certified that you are resident overseas.

I recommend that the original poster consults the relevant sections of the UK and HK Inland Revenue websites, and the HK Immigration website, all of which are very good and comprehensive, and give far more definitive answers than the speculation of partly informed (and sometimes misinformed) people on internet chat groups.

Maybe you should have sorted my tax issues for me then! I wrote what I did based on my experience which was obviously dfferent to yours. And yes I had to fill in forms to say I was overseas permanently and not returning. Simple hey. So misinformed, yes maybe in your book, but certainly not in mine based on experince.

[shoho]

Originally Posted by KnowItAll

Who needs Emigra when we have shweet, helpful, respectful and caring members like yourself.

KnowItAll - actually i was rather expecting you to have the answer!

[KnowItAll]

>> KnowItAll - actually i was rather expecting you to have the answer!

I try to avoid long questions. In my experience the longer the question the shorter the answer.

Will take a look and get back later today.