Hivemind…

We are currently considering employing someone who currently lives in The Netherlands (he’ll be moving over here if we offer him the job). Is it a straight-forward task? Obviously he doesn’t have an NI number or anything so how does he/we go about sorting everything out with respect to HMRC? I assume that (because he is within the EU) that there are no issues with visas or anything.

Cheers

EU means he can come and go as he wants just don’t tell UKIP. I think he can sort out NI/Tax Details when he arrives

If he’s from the EU, I thought he could just pay tax and stuff in his home country, no need for UK PAYE or NI?

They will need a NI number but the rest is straight forward as per a UK citizen. I employ a number of EU nationals.

Just because he lives in NL doesn’t mean he’s a right to be in the EU/UK – you’ll still need to confirm his nationality.

I’m a foreign national. I vaguely recall standing in a queue in a benefits office for an hour or so with my paperwork, then a couple of weeks later a card arived in the post with my NI number. I think the person has to sort that out for themselves ? Prolly all online these days. You also have to see proof of their right to work in the UK, passport or something.

Yeah I know – I just need to see his passport or identity card I believe.

I cannot find anything helpful on gov.uk.

You need to think carefully about this. Your company will go on a UKIP blacklist to be shut down the minute they take power, you and all your native Englanders will be interned on the Isle of White as collaborators. Your foreign colleague will be set upon by British Bulldogs as sport for the entertainment of hard working white English families.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number

Yeah I know – I just need to see his passport or identity card I believe.

A Boots Advantage card or Nectar Points should be sufficient

he may need to register with the authorities (in Finland, that’s with the police. In the NL, that was with the local council). And go get a NI number, etc.

If you’re able to help him with that, I bet he/she would really appreciate it.

Also, daft things like transferring a driving license to the UK, getting a dentist, registering for with a GP, finding good insurers and visiting the local breweries are all made easier by having a local guide.

he may need to register with the authorities (in Finland, that’s with the police. In the NL, that was with the local council).

Not required in UK for NL passport holders.

If you employ in the UK then a EU national will pay UK tax/NI etc. Like I say as long as you have a NI number (and they have to prove EU nationality to get that) it’s like employing a UK citizen.

All I had to do was get a NI number. Did not change my driving licence, i think you have till you are 75 year old to do that. He will probably need a letter from employers to open a bank account.

It is possible to pay the NI contributions for the home country for a certain amount of time (I think less than 12 months now). When I first moved to Germany I continued to pay UK contributions for a few years*, I wasn’t sure about making the move permanent and it saved me a reasonable amount. Since then though I think the rules have been tightened, and even then it was complicated and relied on the company having the wherewithal to organise it.

*During that time I wouldn’t have been able to claim benefits in Germany.

I don’t think changing your driving license is necessary any more for EU citizens. For the person he/she has to inform the NL that they are relocating to a different country or they will get taxed in both. This happened to a friend of mine who went to work in Spain for a number of years and now he’s returned he’s fighting the tax office here after receiving an income tax bill for the time he was away.

For the person he/she has to inform the NL that they are relocating to a different country or they will get taxed in both

This. When you leave NL you have to be sure to check out from the Gemeente and inform the tax office. I didn’t do that, and got a nasty shock after I had been gone for a few months when a blue envelope from the Dutch tax man dropped onto the mat containing a tax demand for the period since I’d left. Took a lot of time and stress to resolve.

Won’t he also have to go through the stupid dance about proving your address, when you have nowhere to live? Along with the absurd British reliance on bits of paper like electricity bills and bank statements?

The county of origin TAX/NI issues are the employee’s issue not the employer. Not an issue for the OP.

All the issues are for the employee not the employer actually. All the op needs is a NI number. But helping someone relocate to another country makes the whole thing less stressful and you have a happy employee.

Quite, the company I work for, paid someone to help me with all the relocating bureaucracy. In your shoes I would at least help them with dealing with the jobcenter in getting an NI number, and accompany them there if they need to go for an interview. These things can seem quite simple but are really rather daunting in a foreign country.

Yeah he’s spent a bit of time in the UK already and is very confident so I don;t think he’ll have too many issues around being overwhelmed, but we’ve offered to help him wherever he needs it.

This happened to a friend of mine who went to work in Spain for a number of years and now he’s returned he’s fighting the tax office here after receiving an income tax bill

I thought Billfighting had been outlawed in many parts of Spain.