Moving people into the UK

A secondment into the UK looks like an internal transfer and behaves like three separate compliance exercises. The visa blocks, so it tends to be settled first. Income tax and social security run on separate rules and need answering at the same time.

One: can they work here

Anyone without the right to work in the UK needs permission, and in most cases that means the employing company holds a sponsor licence. The licence costs £611 for a small or charitable sponsor and £1,682 for a larger one, takes around eight weeks, and carries an immigration skills charge of £480 or £1,320 a year for each sponsored worker, payable up front for the whole period. There are routes designed for intra-group transfers and for a business establishing a UK presence, and which applies depends on the person and the plan.

Immigration advice is a regulated activity in the UK and Buzz does not provide it. We introduce an immigration adviser, and we make sure the company's payroll records, contracts and filings support the sponsor duties, because those duties fall on the company and are audited.

Two: where they pay income tax

Income tax generally follows where the work is done. Someone working in the UK is within UK PAYE from the first day, and the employer, including a host employer that is not the contractual employer, can be required to operate it. Where a treaty exempts a short-term visitor, a short-term business visitor agreement with HMRC removes the need to run payroll for them, but it has to be applied for and reported on annually. Without one, the obligation exists whether or not anyone acts on it.

Directors are treated differently from employees. Pay attributable to a UK directorship is taxable here from the first board meeting with no minimum period, which is covered on the overseas directors page.

Three: which social security system

This is the one that saves real money and is most often missed. Where the UK has an agreement with the person's home country, they can normally stay in their home social security system for a defined period with a certificate of coverage obtained at home, instead of paying UK National Insurance. The UK has agreements with the United States and India among others; the India convention covers contribution liability only and gives no benefit entitlement. Where there is no agreement, UK National Insurance is due from the start. Employer National Insurance at 15% with no upper limit makes this a material number on a senior secondee.

What we do

For each person moving, we set out before they travel which of the three answers applies, obtain or coordinate the certificate of coverage, apply for the short-term business visitor agreement where it fits, set the payroll up correctly, and keep the reporting current. Where the person is coming for long enough that UK residence is in play, we deal with the personal side too.