Best country for 'UK WFH'
- Thread starter Supine
- Start date
Madeira? Still Portugal, right? I liked it there.
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
What do you do, work-wise, though? I don't suppose anyone can just up sticks and move to a different country without a job to go to or at least job prospects to follow up.
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
I've started brushing up my French again. I've done a couple of brief stints over there, would happily go back again.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Pack some wellies.
shakespearegirl
just worked out taglines
At the moment not very much! I had a contract lined up for mainly remote work and a bit back in London but it got Covided. Trying to decide what I want to do in the future.
It’s hard to judge because of Covid but here in the Algarve a lot of work is seasonal and wages are low so not somewhere to go if you don’t have a source of income.
The OP was looking for somewhere to live where they could do a UK WFH job.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Spent a couple of days in Vigo mainly eating seafood
dessiato
🇪🇸 españa te quiero
I love Vigo. There’s some nice bars along the beach. There’s a plot of land, or used to be, that is empty and looks out to sea. You can see the ships entering and leaving the port, but to the front the next landfall is America. I want to live on this plot, having built a small house on it. My two favourite bars in Vigo are in easy walking distance too.
19sixtysix
Life as viewed from a Gay Gorbals Garret
Cyprus. All year sun, mountains with snow, sea, good food.
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
Somewhere like the Azores or Cape Verde are also in roughly the right time zone. They're volcanic archipelagos though, mostly tourist economies, and stuff has to be imported. But living in a tourist destination has its attractions and might be worth considering.
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
How would they know where you were if you connected via a VPN? (I'm guessing here. I think that's how they work, they mask your location.)
Supine
Newt Member
19sixtysix
Life as viewed from a Gay Gorbals Garret
It means the rest of the time you have to work via a vpn at a UK address and use a voip phone so they don't get strange ring tones.
kalmatthew
Lurker Extrodinaire
Tax and immigration in the county you are visiting is the real issue. My company has an individual who was stranded in India by the pandemic. For them to work legally on their UK project would cost us in the region of £10k. Some of this is about personal tax but the majority is thay by having someone work for the UK company in India it crates a permant entity taxable entity in India. Ultimately while you may no personally the company you work might not be and thay might affect your employment status.....
shakespearegirl
just worked out taglines
Even if you are self employed/have own company it’s not straight forward! I’d recommend getting advice from at least 2 accountants.. I’ve had lots of conflicting advise from professionals!
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
Ah, yes, the OP says UK-based job but doesn't say what type of role it is, whether it's PAYE-type role usually or freelance/contractor.
I kind of assumed it would be freelance and know people who live in UK and do freelance media/journalosm both for companies based in the UK, and companies based in Europe or US.
Also other Brits live and work abroad and are legally resident in US or South America, Europe, Middle East or wherever, but invoice/get paid.
It can result in lots of form filling and it's painful if the currency exchange changes in the wrong direction.
Freelancing is arguably doable. Not sure how PAYE or equivalent in other countries would work.
Although there are people who eg live in Northern Ireland and work in Ireland and vice versa, aren't there? Also Swedes and Danish people crossing the bridge? And don't some people eg live in Belgium or Netherlands and work in neighbouring country? I mean, with mainland European countries, the neighbouring country can be next door or across the street, or borders can even cut through houses, so accountants must've figured a way to pay and tax people appropriately?
I kind of assumed it would be freelance and know people who live in UK and do freelance media/journalosm both for companies based in the UK, and companies based in Europe or US.
Also other Brits live and work abroad and are legally resident in US or South America, Europe, Middle East or wherever, but invoice/get paid.
It can result in lots of form filling and it's painful if the currency exchange changes in the wrong direction.
Freelancing is arguably doable. Not sure how PAYE or equivalent in other countries would work.
Although there are people who eg live in Northern Ireland and work in Ireland and vice versa, aren't there? Also Swedes and Danish people crossing the bridge? And don't some people eg live in Belgium or Netherlands and work in neighbouring country? I mean, with mainland European countries, the neighbouring country can be next door or across the street, or borders can even cut through houses, so accountants must've figured a way to pay and tax people appropriately?
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
Ireland... Its like England but much nicer and not full of wankers 
I'm actually pretty unhappy with it. Why would an employer pay UK wages for someone living abroad when they can pay Eastern Europe / South Asian / East Asian or whatever wages for the same.
Be careful what you wish for unless you have a niche skill.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
It's also the potential impact of large numbers of well-paid Brits and other northern Europeans appearing with their laptops in the housing markets of places with nice beaches but economic problems.
I don't know how that will play out, if at all, but strange that it doesn't seem to be getting a mention.
ska invita
back on the other side
Has Cupid Stunt suggested Worthing yet?
Supine
Newt Member
I'm sure it would be terrible for people with relatively OK amounts of money turn up in an economy that really needs people with money.
ska invita
back on the other side
its exactly what Naomi Kleins Battle for Paradise is about... Rich US tech guys buying up and working from recently hurricane hit and desperate for cash puerto Rico
spoiler; trickle down economics doesn't happen, disaster capitalism does
more extreme case then what is being discussed, but some dynamics could repeat depending on circumstances
spoiler; trickle down economics doesn't happen, disaster capitalism does
more extreme case then what is being discussed, but some dynamics could repeat depending on circumstances
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
In places like Cornwall, locals are priced out of housing because of incomers buying holiday homes. A lot of local work is seasonal and low paid too, hence economic problems. If people come to live full-time and work remotely, that's arguably better for the local economy in one sense, if people are buying groceries and going to local restaurants and using local traders all year round, because that's better than holiday home owners who night only visit a few times a year, stay for weekends, bring groceries with them, etc. But it still means that people with bigger budgets are distorting the local housing market.
