Wife's job relocating to UK, working remote for my old US company?

Not sure what the tax/liability implications are for this, but here goes:

My wife's company is moving us to the UK for 3 years. My understanding is that I'd be on a Spouse Visa which allows you to work. We plan on maintaining a residence in the USA during that time (keeping the house).

Ideally, I'd like to keep working for my current company on a remote basis with them continuing to pay my current salary into my US accounts: change nothing except for where my remote computer is plugged in.

I understand that I'd likely need to pay taxes in the UK on my US earnings, and that with the dual-taxation agreement I'd get a refund of my US taxes.  I'm not sure what the liability would be for my company though, which will likely effect if they'll let me work remote.

To complicate things further, they also have a UK subsidiary so I may be able to transfer to there if things are too complicated (but that complicates things as I'm in Development and that subsidiary is almost 100% sales & marketing, plus there may be significant salary implications as SW Devs in the UK are not paid nearly as much as ones in the USA).

This is a question for your employer given that they need to offer you an English or Scottish employment contract (with UK benefits); operate PAYE & address their own corporate tax issues. Ask them to share with you the advice they receive from their lawyers or accountants.

As a UK resident, you'll be liable to pay UK taxes on your salary, even if it's paid into a US account. You'll also still be liable to file US taxes.

The tax treaty doesn't protect you from double taxation, unless you are a 'researcher', in which case it might so long as you don't live in the UK more than a few years (the treaty will specify how many).

The way to avoid dual taxation is to pay UK taxes, then, if the UK taxes you've paid are more than the US taxes you owe on the same income, claim the Foreign Tax Credit when you file your US tax return. This gives you a $1 tax credit for every dollar of tax you've paid abroad, so if you've paid more tax in the UK, you'll have excess US tax credits that you can use in the future, making back the difference in the years after you return to the US.

So in the long term this will leave you tax neutral, though in the short term you may well pay more tax on your salary, at UK rates. (If your UK taxes on your salary are less than the US taxes you owe thuough, and you earn under $100,000, claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion when you file your US return instead).

Another thought is that if you retain your home in the US and you plan to return there, you may have to continue paying state taxes, depending on which state you live in. Contact them to find out.

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Good luck!

What Guya is saying is that it can't be done as simply as you wish.  While the Internet has no borders, tax and employment law do.  You'll need to become a contractor for your US company and bill them.  It's not simple.

The comment from spammylink.pleasereportthispost (sic) is confusingly simplistic as it ignores UK PAYE competely. The UK requires that an employed worker suffers PAYE withholding and has employment rights. Simply labelling yourself as a "contractor" might not be sufficient, as Uber are busy finding out to their cost. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/19/uber-appeal-uk-employment-ruling-drivers-working-rights

The engager of your work will want advice to limit their own risk.

Personal income tax isn't the biggest issue here, it's UK employment regulations and National Insurance and FICA.

Staying as a direct employee of your US company isn't an option. But working for the UK subsidiary sounds ideal. You'd get the benefits required by UK law and pay NICs and PAYE and just have to reconcile the usual UK and US personal tax issues.