I hope this helps. Basically my suggestion is retain your UK residence and take extended "vacations" in countries you want to visit - it'll be a lot less of a hassle then trying to immigrate.
You will want to be very, very careful with that. I'm neither a lawyer nor an accountant, but the tax rules for US citizens are very different from pretty much everyone else. Tax authorities will generally not be happy if you try to pay no tax locally and send it all home. The rule is typically that you pay tax where you spend the most number of days of that tax year. No idea what happens when tax years for natural persons don't overlap (UK has April-April, many countries have calendar years) - in my case I didn't earn any money in the interim so it wasn't an issue.
Within the EU, you'll probably need to register your new residence as the, or one of the company's offices where its business is conducted. You don't need to register it as a business of that country, though, unless you're a sole trader. Any salary or dividends you pay yourself will usually be subject to local taxes, social security, health insurance and possibly other fees. Your accountant(s) will need to tell you where the business pays tax on its profits.
You may also require a permit for operating a business in that country. I did (UK citizen, located in Austria), and although software development is usually not regulated in the way the medical, legal and other professions are, I did require a certificate of any record on the UK Police National Computer, or rather lack of any record. This took almost 2 months and cost 10 pounds. I managed to sweet-talk the bureaucrat in Austria into not requiring an official translation, but the rule is that you do - this will add extra cost and time.
You may also require a residence permit, even within the EU. That too tends to be a mere formality, but usually they want proof of earning enough to sustain yourself. Not a problem if you're a UK limited company, you'll be used to your income being a matter of public record anyway. I didn't need this in Vienna, but a German friend in another State (Lower Austria) got an unpleasant visit from the immigration police.
UK->EU specific, but: you can forget your E111 for anything but emergencies. You'll probably be forced to get local health insurance (in Austria they write to you and bill you as soon as you register the business) anyway.
Hopefully, you'll encounter less hassle - Austria is exceptionally hostile towards the self employed, and taxes are insane.
For almost every set of countries in the 'matrix of possibilities' there is a tax treaty in place these days, your local tax office should be able to tell you quite a bit about the situation once you've settled on a country of your choice.
"You will want to be very, very careful with that."
You're right. You probably want to find a good tax attorney or accountant that is well-versed in the tax laws and treaties of any and all countries you plan on spending time in, especially if you plan on doing business locally.
My understanding is that under EU treaties, EU countries are obliged to treat companies formed in other countries the same as local companies, i.e. the government can't discriminate against you for having a company registered somewhere else.
Indeed many EU startups are officially headquartered in the UK even if they're based elsewhere in Europe for the favourable legal and tax implications.
This won't affect you if it's literally just a short vacation or even a business trip[1]. However, even if primary residence is only de-facto (generally, more than half a year spent at that location) you will probably be on the hook for tax. So beware of that 27-week holiday or business trip.
[1] exception: if you actually take payment in that location, e.g. selling stuff at a trade show, you need to register the business at the location you're visiting for that time as you are now operating from that country for VAT purposes. Ugh! VAT is a whole new can of worms anyway.
Ask an accountant. I suspect you'll be more or less free to choose your primary residence as long as you actually maintain an address there. But seriously, with any of these things it's best to talk to someone who knows the ins and outs of the tax laws of the countries you're visiting.
Comments
I hope this helps. Basically my suggestion is retain your UK residence and take extended "vacations" in countries you want to visit - it'll be a lot less of a hassle then trying to immigrate.
You will want to be very, very careful with that. I'm neither a lawyer nor an accountant, but the tax rules for US citizens are very different from pretty much everyone else. Tax authorities will generally not be happy if you try to pay no tax locally and send it all home. The rule is typically that you pay tax where you spend the most number of days of that tax year. No idea what happens when tax years for natural persons don't overlap (UK has April-April, many countries have calendar years) - in my case I didn't earn any money in the interim so it wasn't an issue.
Within the EU, you'll probably need to register your new residence as the, or one of the company's offices where its business is conducted. You don't need to register it as a business of that country, though, unless you're a sole trader. Any salary or dividends you pay yourself will usually be subject to local taxes, social security, health insurance and possibly other fees. Your accountant(s) will need to tell you where the business pays tax on its profits.
You may also require a permit for operating a business in that country. I did (UK citizen, located in Austria), and although software development is usually not regulated in the way the medical, legal and other professions are, I did require a certificate of any record on the UK Police National Computer, or rather lack of any record. This took almost 2 months and cost 10 pounds. I managed to sweet-talk the bureaucrat in Austria into not requiring an official translation, but the rule is that you do - this will add extra cost and time.
You may also require a residence permit, even within the EU. That too tends to be a mere formality, but usually they want proof of earning enough to sustain yourself. Not a problem if you're a UK limited company, you'll be used to your income being a matter of public record anyway. I didn't need this in Vienna, but a German friend in another State (Lower Austria) got an unpleasant visit from the immigration police.
UK->EU specific, but: you can forget your E111 for anything but emergencies. You'll probably be forced to get local health insurance (in Austria they write to you and bill you as soon as you register the business) anyway.
Hopefully, you'll encounter less hassle - Austria is exceptionally hostile towards the self employed, and taxes are insane.
For almost every set of countries in the 'matrix of possibilities' there is a tax treaty in place these days, your local tax office should be able to tell you quite a bit about the situation once you've settled on a country of your choice.
"You will want to be very, very careful with that."
You're right. You probably want to find a good tax attorney or accountant that is well-versed in the tax laws and treaties of any and all countries you plan on spending time in, especially if you plan on doing business locally.
My understanding is that under EU treaties, EU countries are obliged to treat companies formed in other countries the same as local companies, i.e. the government can't discriminate against you for having a company registered somewhere else.
Indeed many EU startups are officially headquartered in the UK even if they're based elsewhere in Europe for the favourable legal and tax implications.
[deleted]
This won't affect you if it's literally just a short vacation or even a business trip[1]. However, even if primary residence is only de-facto (generally, more than half a year spent at that location) you will probably be on the hook for tax. So beware of that 27-week holiday or business trip.
[1] exception: if you actually take payment in that location, e.g. selling stuff at a trade show, you need to register the business at the location you're visiting for that time as you are now operating from that country for VAT purposes. Ugh! VAT is a whole new can of worms anyway.
So what's the situation if you spend 3 months in 4 different countries each?
Ask an accountant. I suspect you'll be more or less free to choose your primary residence as long as you actually maintain an address there. But seriously, with any of these things it's best to talk to someone who knows the ins and outs of the tax laws of the countries you're visiting.