US employee working in London... Help me convince them to pay dual taxes!

I work for a mid-size but somewhat disorganized US company that has just opened a UK branch. I am now in London for six months, being payed from the US payroll and having been relocated by the company.

There is a possibility that I could stay in the UK later (I like it here), but I need to convince my company to handle some of the dual tax burden.

Any advice? Many thanks!

Well, it would have been great if you had negotiated this before you left...

Other then stating that it is common for companies to offer "tax neutrality" to overseas employees, I am not sure what else would convince your employer.  Most likely they will have to hire tax resources from one of the bigger consultancies (PriceWaterhouse for example).  Your company should figure out its expatriate benefits and policies as well, before they get themselves into further situations where people are unhappy with having to deal with dual taxation issues.  That can make for some very grumpy employees.

Typically the process is that the accountants will prepare both you US and UK taxes and advise you on the best way to make the right sort of deductions, etc.  Based on your total tax burden, they will figure what your US tax would have normally have been and then the company will provide you with the difference.  This is a typical function of accountants that specialize in this and can hold the hands of your company, but most likely it will cost you company some money in order to work all this out.

Thanks for the reply. I tried to get them to agree to this beforehand (other details were worked out). I can always go back to the U.S. if it doesn't work out, but I wonder how I can let them know what is standard for most companies.

All I can say is that I work for a company of about 400 employees, and we went through several bumpy roads establishing our International business in the late 90's.  We were a bit naive, to say the least and ran into several tax issues.  I was caught in the middle of some of it, though I escaped fairly easily, because I returned to the states and skirted the issue.  A co-worker of mine did get caught and it took two years trying to sort it out.

If they don't have to tackle it with you, they will have to tackle it soon.

Thanks for the reply. I tried to get them to agree to this beforehand (other details were worked out). I can always go back to the U.S. if it doesn't work out, but I wonder how I can let them know what is standard for most companies.

It is standard for companies to offer a tax equalisation policy for employees on assignment.  The point is so that you are no better or worse off, when it comes to tax liability.  As described above, your tax is calculated based on the what would have happened had you remained in the US and compared to your actual tax (US and UK).  If actual tax is greater than your US tax had you remained, the company pays the difference.  If your US tax had you remained is greater, you pay the company the difference.