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Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

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Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

#71

Is there some reason to not apply for a job in an EU country? $60.000 is pretty low and getting hired in another EU country (assuming you're in the EU of cause) might be easier than getting hired by a US based company.

Where's €60000 pretty low? In Italy at least €60000 a year before taxes is kind of a very high salary and hard to get. The average salary for a DevOps Engineer according to Glassdoor is 35000 a year.

Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. Contracting through a legal entity doesn’t prevent you from being a defacto employee.

Yep, in many places you would need multiple clients to prevent being seen as an de facto employee.

Some companies have different offices in different countries, and one can issue invoices to the one in the US for 6 months and the one in Dubai for another 6 months if that were a problem. I've never heard of anyone in the EU having "exporter" clients in the US to require multiple of them every year though.

Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

#74
post #61
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Just wrapping people in shell companies doesn’t usually avoid the legal tests for whether someone is being treated as an employee or contractor AFAIK." What does "wrapping people in shell companies" mean? As a person, you're either employed for a "shell company", in which case you've signed a contract and you get paid a salary - or you're the owner of a "shell company", in which case you get to choose how to manag…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_self-employment

> "False self-employment is a situation in which somebody registered as self-employed, a freelancer, or a temp is de facto an employee carrying out a professional activity under the authority and subordination of another company. Such false self-employment is often a way to circumvent social welfare and employment legislation, for example by avoiding employer's social security and income tax contributions."

Could you kindly explain how this definition of "false self-employment" is in any way relevant to the situation I just described in my original comment? I'm struggling to see it myself.

What about the specific situation I described implies circumvention of social welfare, or employment legislation, for example?

Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

#75
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be if the company were in Germany. But not outside Germany, there the freelancer is classified as "exporter" (both for US and EU clients).

the only issue is that you might be liable to pay social insurance (DRV), but only if they can show that you have only one long-term client, and I’m not sure if it applies to foreign clients, especially outside the EU (but it might)

AFAIK it doesn't apply to outside-Germany clients. The freelancer is viewed as exporter and contributes to German export economy. Mind you, a freelancer has no social safety net, no pension, exorbitantly expensive health care (900+ EUR) and no unemployment benefits either.

Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

#76
I met a few people with US work authorization keeping a US residence in a no income taxed state (Texas, South Dakota) and maintaining a job with that residency. They pay US federal and employment taxes. Some of them report this income to their other country of residence, whereas other do not. Some are nomadic not staying in one country long enough to be considered a tax resident. It's a legally gray area. In EU, unless they have dual citizenship or a legal reason to stay in a country for a while, they hop around due to visa issues and leave the Schegen zone to non-Eu/non-Schegen countries like Morocco, Turkey, Georgia, Romania etc.

Many are in Central/South America due to time zone simplicity. good internet is a must. Do note many countries have a digital nomad visa option.

Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

#77

I met a few people with US work authorization keeping a US residence in a no income taxed state (Texas, South Dakota) and maintaining a job with that residency. They pay US federal and employment taxes. Some of them report this income to their other country of residence, whereas other do not. Some are nomadic not staying in one country long enough to be considered a tax resident. It's a legally gray area. In EU, unle…

Some swear they are lawful residents of said states but do your own diligence.

Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

#78
post #29

I think you’re asking for a US salary rather than a US company in itself, right? Unless you’re an exceptional performer who can command a US salary from a position in EU, I think you could: - move to the US, maybe some remote area where cost of living is minimal but you get a reasonable internet connection - apply for a full remote job that accepts digital nomads, so they ack you could work from any timezone - go bac…

This would only work if you have work authorization in the US. All US employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_I-9 )

Nobody said it would be easy.

Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

#79
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, in many places you would need multiple clients to prevent being seen as an de facto employee.

Some companies have different offices in different countries, and one can issue invoices to the one in the US for 6 months and the one in Dubai for another 6 months if that were a problem. I've never heard of anyone in the EU having "exporter" clients in the US to require multiple of them every year though.

It’s because no one is looking at this closely yet, because until recently it wasn’t popular enough to pop up on anyone’s radar.

The loophole you’re talking about is alas probably tax fraud, if you are paying from multiple companies that you own to make it look like your “contractor” had multiple clients.

Re: Ask HN: Strategies to land remote US job while living in living in EU?

#80
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't you start a company in the EU and get hired as a contractor to circumvent this? That's the way to go for BR developers. You even get some cool tax breaks for exporting services.

Yes, that's the way you do it, at least in Poland. You start a sole proprietorship and then just invoice your US-based client monthly. It's very simple for both sides.

It’s simple for now because no one is looking at it. But it will cause a world of problems for employers who are treating contractors as de facto employees when and if someone does start looking.
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