Employed in Germany - Living in the UK

Welcome Ben

I think you would be best to contact British in Germany.

I do not know the UK-Germany tax treaty (consult a good tax adviser for this!), but most such treaties specify that you are taxed where you predominantly live and work - thus in your case UK.
You will still have to declare your world income to the German tax authority, because it is up to them, not you, to decide what is taxable and what not. Furthermore, your employer will probably have to deduct income tax at source (i.e. before paying the remainder of your salary to you) and you can get it back after the yearly tax declaration and proving that you indeed spent most time in UK (keep all flight/Train tickets and other records of your travels for this!).
It does not matter, for taxation purposes, where your employer is located and where/how you are paid.
(Remark: If no treaty existed, you'd have to tax your income in Germany and might be double-taxed in the other country as well.)

I found this: Tax treaty.

I want to add there is no update for the treaty in 2021, so I would go to a good lawyer if this may have concequenses for you. It seems there isn't an up to date agreement yet.

Hi Ben,

I just found your post, as I am in a similar situation. Employed in Germany (Berlin) but would like to work remotely, as my husband is employed in UK.

Did you find any further information regarding this? I will do further research, and also share what I come across.

Cheers,
Tess

Hello,

Did you receive any further information? I've just been offered a job in germany but can work from the UK, would love to know how you dealt with it.

Thanks,

Ursula

So here is the thing, as a ground rule salary income is taxed where the job duties were physically performed (accrued). The only exception is 180 days rules.  So in case one is working remotely from another country for more than 180 days then he and his employer is liable to fulfil the regulations (social security , health insurance & income + VAT taxes) of that country. In both the above cases, first the salary will be credited to individuals account post local taxes and then since the person was legally present in another country for more than 180 days then he is also liable to file taxes in another country on his worldwide income.
Technically a good tax advisor would split the income in Germany & UK (based on the number of days the person was present in both countries) and file tax return. So one can keep himself out of dual tax net. One thing to notice here is that UK and Germany both have different financial year so if stay is not distributed wisely one may end up in double taxation net.

I would be more worried about the validity of German work permit in case the stay in less than 180 days in a year.

Hello,

Thanks a lot for that feedback thats really helpful. My situation is a bit tricky, as I have dual citizenship the work permit situation is not an issue.
I am currently living and working in the UK but have a job offer for a German company starting in March. They have advised not to move over until the 6 month probation is concluded, meaning I'd likely only move  about 7-9 months after starting the job and work remotely from the UK in the meantime. This is also partially due to Covid, as they said there's no point moving to sit at home in Germany if I can do the same from the UK.

I am just a bit worried about the tax situation in this case though and where I would pay tax. As the company is German they said they'd want to use a German account and address. However I cannot afford to pay two rents and pay tax twice if I will mostly be based out of the UK (with international business trips being part of my job, as well as likely visits to the Germany office).

Appreciate all your feedback- thanks a lot.

The best step would be to get in touch with a professional German tax layer. The good ones are not expensive at all as it may appear and they will also help you with your tax filing for the financial year in question.

There are lot of other factors at play here. Did you consider health insurance aspect? Your employer would need your local health insurance number and both you and your employer would be contributing in it. So roughly 20% of your monthly gross would go in health insurance and pension so make sure you do your cost benefit calculation accordingly.

As far as tax aspect is concerned, I think the salary income should be considered as progressive income if you could prove that the job duties were performed outside Germany. However this will increase the overall tax rate on your other German income (how much depends on your tax bracket 4-4 or 3-5).