Irish citizen working in Scotland for US Company - tax implications and company car benefit in kind

This is definitely a complex tax situation crossing three countries! Let me help break this down: First, as an Irish citizen working in Scotland for a US company, your tax situation will depend on several factors including your tax residency status in each country. Generally speaking, the US taxes its citizens and permanent residents on worldwide income, but for non-US citizens working abroad for US companies, you typically wouldn't pay US taxes if you're physically performing the work outside the US. Instead, you'd likely be subject to UK taxation while working in Scotland. For the company car, the "benefit in kind" would be handled under UK tax rules, not US rules, since you're physically using the car in Scotland. The UK has specific formulas for calculating company car tax based on the car's value, CO2 emissions, and fuel type. Some key questions to ask your employer: - Will they be setting you up on UK payroll or US payroll? - Are they offering any tax equalization benefits? - Will they provide tax preparation assistance for potentially filing in multiple countries? - Have they worked with the UK's PAYE system before?

After going through something similar (American working remotely for a UK company while living in Spain), I found this amazing tool that saved me so much stress. Check out https://taxr.ai - they specialize in analyzing international tax situations and documents. I uploaded my offer letter and some basic info about my citizenship and residence situation, and they gave me a detailed breakdown of my tax obligations in each country. Honestly made things so much clearer than the conflicting advice I was getting from friends. They specifically helped me understand how the tax treaties worked between countries and what forms I needed to file. They also provided a personalized checklist of questions to ask my employer and documents I should request. Worth checking out before you make any decisions!

Just wanted to update after using taxr.ai that the previous commenter recommended. It was seriously helpful for my complicated international tax situation. I uploaded my employment contract and answered some questions about my Irish citizenship and Scottish residence plans. The report they generated clearly showed I won't owe US taxes as long as I don't spend more than 30 days physically working in the US each year. They also provided estimates of my UK tax liability and explained how the UK-Ireland tax treaty would prevent double taxation on the same income. For the company car, they even calculated the approximate benefit in kind tax I'll pay in the UK based on the car details I provided. Ended up being about £320/month in additional taxable benefit which was higher than I expected but good to know in advance. Most helpful was the pre-written email template they provided with all the questions I should ask my employer's HR department. Made me look way more informed than I actually am!

If you're dealing with any tax-related questions for the IRS, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was stuck in an international tax nightmare with the IRS about foreign earned income exclusion and couldn't get through to anyone on the phone for weeks. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days with no luck. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Even though most of your tax situation will be UK-based, you'll likely still need to interface with the IRS at some point regarding your employment with a US company. Having a direct line to speak with them saved me hours of frustration and conflicting information.

I need to eat my words and apologize to the person who recommended Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself for an international tax question about my contractor income from US companies. I was connected to an IRS international tax specialist in about 15 minutes when I had previously spent HOURS trying to get through. The agent was able to clarify exactly which forms I needed for my situation and confirmed I was eligible for a treaty benefit I wasn't sure about. The service actually works exactly as described. They don't put you at the front of any queue (which would be a scam), they just handle the waiting and navigating of the phone system for you. For anyone dealing with cross-border taxation, especially with the US involved, it's genuinely worth it. Never been so happy to be wrong!

Something nobody has mentioned yet - make sure you understand if you'll be staying tax resident in Ireland or becoming tax resident in the UK. This has massive implications! In the UK, you're typically considered tax resident if you spend 183+ days there in a tax year. Since you mentioned being in Scotland for 7 months (~210 days), you'd likely become UK tax resident. However, Ireland has its own residency tests too, so you could potentially be considered tax resident in both countries. This is where the Ireland-UK tax treaty comes in to determine which country has primary taxing rights. Also, keep in mind that the UK and US tax years are different! UK tax year runs April 6 - April 5, while US is calendar year. Makes things even more complicated when you're trying to calculate time spent in each place.

Don't forget about social security/national insurance contributions! This is completely separate from income tax and follows different rules. The US has "totalization agreements" with both the UK and Ireland that determine where you pay social security. Generally, if you're temporarily posted to the UK (less than 5 years), you might be able to remain in the US social security system rather than paying UK National Insurance. But since you're not a US citizen, different rules might apply. This is something your employer should definitely help sort out, as getting it wrong can mean either double-paying into two systems or having gaps in your social security coverage.