Occasional work abroad

ericonabike

A friend has been offered the chance of occasional work abroad - say a couple of two week periods, working as a tour guide. Payment would be in Euros at the rate of around 100 a day. Obviously what he should do is declare every Euro and complete a self assessment form. But what if he didn't? Realistically, what is the likelihood of HMRC discovering his earnings? I suspect it's not the monetary loss that is concerning him, but rather the ballache of having to do a self assessment and accompanying forms...

dontbegreedy

I'd be very interested in what answers you receive to this thread as well. I have recently started working in different countries but pay tax in each country that I work in.

pjclar02

ericonabike wrote: »

But what if he didn't?

Then this would be fraudulent evasion of income tax and your friend risks prison. I would suggest it is not worth the risk for the small amount of admin involved in submitting a tax return each year.

Cook_County

dontbegreedy wrote: »

I'd be very interested in what answers you receive to this thread as well. I have recently started working in different countries but pay tax in each country that I work in.

...and you report the foreign income on the foreign pages of your UK tax return and claim credit in the UK for the foreign tax payable.

dontbegreedy

Cook_County wrote: »

...and you report the foreign income on the foreign pages of your UK tax return and claim credit in the UK for the foreign tax payable.

I haven't had to do a UK tax return for the last couple of years as I have been living abroad but that is the plan once I live and earn money back there again.

ericonabike

As with most things, it's a question of scale. If you moved abroad to take up a permanent job, everyone I suspect would report it and go through the appropriate channels. But what if, whilst on holiday in France, you did a coup;e of days grape picking? Would you report that? Between those two extremes lie our personal limits, as with most things in life! And as for 'going to prison' for non declaration of earnings of less than £5k - I'd be fascinated to hear of any situation where this has occurred.