Hi everyone,
My name is Aaron and I am a UK national currently working in the UK for my UK employer with plans to move to Koblenz in Germany permanently before Brexit.
I am reaching out to the expat community with the hope that someone will be able to help me with the intricacies of the double taxation agreement and social entitlements.
I currently work in IT/Development which enables me to work remotely from anywhere. I have been given permission from my employer to work remotely permanently. The reason I am moving is that my girlfriend is a German national and we have decided that we would now like to live together in Germany.
Unfortunately, this is not as straight forward as I would have hoped. I was hoping that I could get some advice on the best way to achieve this would be?
I have been doing lots of reading around the "UK-Germany Double Taxation Convention". However, it doesn't really explain how this would work in my situation. I am also concerned about how the social tax is paid for services I require locally like Healthcare and unemployment insurance etc...
Ideally, I would like to avoid becoming a freelancer.
Being an employee in the UK while working remotely from Germany
I don't know the UK-German tax treaty (and whether it will survive Brexit), but in general you must tax your income where you live and work. That means you'd most likely be taxable in Germany with your world income. But the details can be tricky, so it pays to get professional advice before you move.
German income tax is 18 - 42% on a progressive scale.
If you are employed (as opposed to freelancing, which might or might not be possible in your case - and, if it does, poses a whole range of other buerocratic challenges), you are also liable for German social security deductions (pension, unemployment and health insurances). If you have to pay the full contributions from your own pocket (because your employer is foreign), this amounts to another almost 39% of your income. (Note: German employers covers half of the social security dues.)
This is what I was afraid of, the personal contribution as well as the side the employer would normally pay, then income tax on top makes it almost worthless.
The other option i have is to come without a job and search for one, I have enough money saved to last a while but I am also not sure how the health insurance would work if I was unemployed?
I guess I have no right to support from the state as a non citizen.
It would be great to know if Anyone else has been in this situation and how they handled it?
My German is extremely basic and I think it will get better if I move but not having a steady income would be extremely difficult.
aturner3 wrote:This is what I was afraid of, the personal contribution as well as the side the employer would normally pay, then income tax on top makes it almost worthless.
The other option i have is to come without a job and search for one, I have enough money saved to last a while but I am also not sure how the health insurance would work if I was unemployed?
I guess I have no right to support from the state as a non citizen.
It would be great to know if Anyone else has been in this situation and how they handled it?
My German is extremely basic and I think it will get better if I move but not having a steady income would be extremely difficult.
You could talk with the DSS in the UK, they can pay you JSA for up to 6 months. I think it is a U1 form you need.
As you can probably imagine, finding a job in the current crisis and recession would be very challenging - and without language skills nearly impossible.
German health insurance (public scheme) would cost you around €175/month if you have no job and no income. (The private scheme varies with coverage, age and current health, but is usually costlier.)
After marrying your girlfriend, you can join her health insurance at no cost (as long as she is in the public scheme and you have no income) and entitlement for public handouts (Hartz IV) depends on your combined household income. If eligible, it would fill your stomach but not allow a nice lifestyle.
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