Tax Law: Employed in Canada, working from different countries (remote)

[zipdoa]

Does anyone have experience being employed in Canada, but working remotely from another country?

I'm trying to live in France for a few months (I'm a citizen/have passport and identity card) but after contacting my HR dept they are unsure of the laws surrounding this.

I would also like to work in LA a few months a year, as well - however I'm not a resident.

While I wait for my employer to get back to me, can anyone comment on this scenario?

[npham]

Unless your company has an office in France, it's going to be a huge pain in the dick is my expectation (if this was long term). But if you were to do this for 3 months, you just delete this thread and carry on.

[davidI]

As far as personal income tax, unless you cut your ties with Canada and establish residency elsewhere, you're on the hook for Canadian tax as normal.

Biggest issue for your company is the potential risk of you becoming a "permanent establishment" of the company from wherever you're working. Realistically, there's not going to be much risk of issues as long as you're not blatantly doing business so probably better not to open the issue with them too much and ensure you don't establish personal tax residence elsewhere (usually a <183 day threshold but depends on the country).

Worth reading, though it's more regarding your company's potential concerns than your own.
https://hbr.org/2021/07/your-company...l-nomad-policy

[mr2mike]

I do know of one person fired for working remotely from USA.
Warned not to go past 3 months. Then fired when IP was reviewed past 3 months.

[brucebanner]

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I do know of one person fired for working remotely from USA.
Warned not to go past 3 months. Then fired when IP was reviewed past 3 months.

If you're working remotely, why would your location matter? As long as you were fulfilling your work obligations and available during whatever times you're supposed to be.

I'm genuinely curious.

[killramos]

Same reason the government would get grumpy if you were living or operating here but paying your taxes in Belize.

[kertejud2]

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If you're working remotely, why would your location matter? As long as you were fulfilling your work obligations and available during whatever times you're supposed to be.

I'm genuinely curious.

You can put your employer under tax obligations from the country the person is working remotely from. So if your employer says you can't work remotely from the U.S. and you do, the employer can be in violation of U.S. tax law if they don't know they need to pay these taxes.

Other issues like how some countries deal with labour laws can come into effect as well that add potential liability to the company.

[mr2mike]

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If you're working remotely, why would your location matter? As long as you were fulfilling your work obligations and available during whatever times you're supposed to be.

I'm genuinely curious.

Because she was paid by a North American company for Canadian equity research and I'm sure they didn't want to figure out if there's issues of information and work generated in another country for dissemination only within Canada and on top of that, Australian and New Zealand tax codes and laws are totally different and this person did not have a work visa or a visa at all.
Caught once and warned. TThen axed

[brucebanner]

Come back to Canada for a weekend, simple enough.

Well, in non covid times.

Edit: the person that was fired, did they no longer have any residence in Canada?

[sabad66]

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Come back to Canada for a weekend, simple enough.

Well, in non covid times.

Edit: the person that was fired, did they no longer have any residence in Canada?

That’s not how it works. Tax law is based on how many days out of the year you resided/worked within a country. 3 months in the US would make any company very nervous

[brucebanner]

That all seems to make sense, I obviously don't know much about tax law.

To keep residency etc, you're supposed to be in country no less than 6 months plus a day, something something? (I'm thinking of stories of snowbirds heading to US for 6 months less a day or something like that)

[kertejud2]

The six months thing for snowbirds is in regards to US immigration and taxation laws, and are more for the individual instead of a company. Things are different if you're on a visa for work.

That's the only real hangup. The systems are on place to do it, but it depends on what the company has setup to accommodate it. zipoda might be willing to deal with the extra forms and paperwork and bank accounts and everything else that comes with the tax process from working in different countries, but the company might not be up for it. Or they might be up for it with the U.S. because the systems are more streamlined (or maybe the company already has things setup to deal with it), but say no to France, even if France is a lot easier for zipoda if he has citizenship.


As for zipoda, if the company is up for it, the things to keep an eye on are:

- France's payroll taxes means you'll likely be out more money because the Foreign Tax Credit doesn't cover all of them (I remember being good with the UK, but definitely got hit harder with France, but that was almost 20 years ago now)
- with those payroll taxes, the Social Security Agreements between Canada and France/the US to avoid double-contributions

[ExtraSlow]

The company health insurance and workers compensation costs are based on where the employee is physically located too. I know of an employer who said WCB wouldn't allow them to have employees "WFH" in British Columbia. Had to stay inside province of Alberta.

[zipdoa]

Thanks for the responses everyone! This is inline with what I excepted.

So far, working remote anywhere in Canada is OK.

We have merged with a US company, and I'm *hoping* that will make it easier to work from the USA. We also have a location in the UK, but I think that is irrelevant to the rest of the EU because of Brexit...

It's unfortunate that it's so complicated. I really want to spend some time with my family in Europe but I understand the big hurdle is taxes. I was just hoping that holding a French passport/being a dual citizen would make things a bit easier. I'll update this thread when I get an official word back from HR.

[brucebanner]

Would it be any easier as a contractor vs employee?

[sexualbanana]

My uneducated guess would be that, at the very least, you'd be fucked for benefits. But I have no real knowledge of how this works.

[Xtrema]

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Thanks for the responses everyone! This is inline with what I excepted.

So far, working remote anywhere in Canada is OK.

We have merged with a US company, and I'm *hoping* that will make it easier to work from the USA. We also have a location in the UK, but I think that is irrelevant to the rest of the EU because of Brexit...

It's unfortunate that it's so complicated. I really want to spend some time with my family in Europe but I understand the big hurdle is taxes. I was just hoping that holding a French passport/being a dual citizen would make things a bit easier. I'll update this thread when I get an official word back from HR.

Croatia?

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021...ad-destination
https://www.expatincroatia.com/digit...-visa-croatia/


If your employer only require you to be digitally available and Croatia doesn't charge income tax that's a lot closer to France.

What else am I missing here? Health plan? No English?

[suntan]

Have your employer uber over envelopes of cash.

[mr2mike]

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Have your employer uber over envelopes of cash.

What if Uber is my employer?

[suntan]

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What if Uber is my employer?

Then use DoorDash.