Moving to Finland from UK - looking for clarification

[LucaHoney]

Hi all,

Myself and my partner (and our 3 dogs!) are interested in moving to Finland this year, ideally before the dreaded Brexit kicks in. We have been travelling Europe for the last year & and half in our campervan, but are both British citizens.

I believe we have sufficient savings to purchase a small rural property in Finland. Income wise, I work what is essentially the same job I did in the UK, but remotely (eg from my laptop). My monthly income differs but I probably earn around £18000k a year before tax. I'm not self employed because I only work for one company and they sort my taxes for me. I also own a house in England which am I currently renting out and drawing an income from.

I've done a lot of reading on the official Finnish migration website but I just wanted some reassurance I suppose; given that neither of us are Finnish nationals, but we have sufficient income to support ourselves, and we will own property, are there any other roadblocks to gaining residency before the end of the year?

One thing is that my partner doesn't currently have any official employment. The income from my job & the rent combined is enough to support both of us. We aren't married so I assume we would be making separate applications for residency (we've been together 7 years). One idea I had was that I could somehow 'employ' her to manage the rental of my house in the UK and she could show that as her income. Is there any other way to get around this? Joint account which I put all my earnings into?

Am I correct in thinking that there isn't a specific amount required as an income, it is done on a case by case basis? Is there any ballpark figure available at all?

Finally, it's a little off topic, but how would income tax work? I assume I'd be taxed a second time on my income (from both the house & my job)? Is there any sort of agreement between the UK and Finland to mitigate this double tax rate? (that said i'm sure this will be thrown into array after Brexit).

Thanks for any guidance!

[betelgeuse]

I've done a lot of reading on the official Finnish migration website but I just wanted some reassurance I suppose; given that neither of us are Finnish nationals, but we have sufficient income to support ourselves, and we will own property, are there any other roadblocks to gaining residency before the end of the year?

Migri lists the documents to attach here and doesn't mention anything extra.

https://migri.fi/en/registration-of-right-of-residence

One thing is that my partner doesn't currently have any official employment. The income from my job & the rent combined is enough to support both of us. We aren't married so I assume we would be making separate applications for residency (we've been together 7 years). One idea I had was that I could somehow 'employ' her to manage the rental of my house in the UK and she could show that as her income. Is there any other way to get around this? Joint account which I put all my earnings into?

Finland considers cohabitation for more than two years the same as marriage for immigration purposes. You can apply as a family.

Am I correct in thinking that there isn't a specific amount required as an income, it is done on a case by case basis? Is there any ballpark figure available at all?

There is no specific amount. However, since the goal is to avoid reliance on income support, you can get some idea with income support eligibility calculators:

https://www.kela.fi/web/en/social-assis ... ho-can-get

Finally, it's a little off topic, but how would income tax work? I assume I'd be taxed a second time on my income (from both the house & my job)? Is there any sort of agreement between the UK and Finland to mitigate this double tax rate? (that said i'm sure this will be thrown into array after Brexit).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... x-treaties

The treaty is not dependent on Brexit.

[FinlandGirl]

I'm not self employed because I only work for one company and they sort my taxes for me.

Finally, it's a little off topic, but how would income tax work? I assume I'd be taxed a second time on my income (from both the house & my job)? Is there any sort of agreement between the UK and Finland to mitigate this double tax rate? (that said i'm sure this will be thrown into array after Brexit).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... x-treaties

The treaty is not dependent on Brexit.

What could change after Brexit is in what country social security system cross-border workers have to pay and receive benefits.

[betelgeuse]

What could change after Brexit is in what country social security system cross-border workers have to pay and receive benefits.

This is not cross border situation for social security. ” Cross-border workers are persons who work in one EU Member State but live in another. ”
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/i ... workers_en

[FinlandGirl]

I'm not self employed because I only work for one company and they sort my taxes for me.

What could change after Brexit is in what country social security system cross-border workers have to pay and receive benefits.

This is not cross border situation for social security. ” Cross-border workers are persons who work in one EU Member State but live in another. ”
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/i ... workers_en

You are saying the UK employer will pay Finnish pension contributions when the employee works remotely from Finland?

[betelgeuse]

You are saying the UK employer will pay Finnish pension contributions when the employee works remotely from Finland?

Yes unless there is an A1. This is why such situations are often turned into a contractor model so the duties fall on the seller.

[betelgeuse]

You are saying the UK employer will pay Finnish pension contributions when the employee works remotely from Finland?

Yes unless there is an A1. This is why such situations are often turned into a contractor model so the duties fall on the seller.

Looked into the guidance and if there's no permanent establishment then it's enough that the employer reports the totals and the contributions will be collected from the employee.

https://www.vero.fi/en/businesses-and-c ... n_employe/

[LucaHoney]

Sorry for the late reply. This is all very useful information, thanks everyone - especially regarding cohabitation. I can certainly prove we have lived together for 2 years whilst we lived in the UK (we cohabited for maybe 5 years straight), it might be harder the last 2 years as we have essentially been NFA (no fixed abode). I'll look into it.

I'll also look into the details of being a cross border worker. I'll be honest I don't pay much mind to my pensions contributions. which I believe are pretty minor in the UK, I think my employer are probably paying the minimum requirement (if I remember correctly they bought this in a few years in the UK). My employer is very flexible and I'm sure there is the possibility we could change the current arrangement to whatever would be more suitable when I do apply for residency (self employed or otherwise).

Thanks all.

[betelgeuse]

I'll also look into the details of being a cross border worker. I'll be honest I don't pay much mind to my pensions contributions. which I believe are pretty minor in the UK, I think my employer are probably paying the minimum requirement (if I remember correctly they bought this in a few years in the UK). My employer is very flexible and I'm sure there is the possibility we could change the current arrangement to whatever would be more suitable when I do apply for residency (self employed or otherwise).

National insurance in the UK is not minor but the other tiers on top can be set quite low by the employer. Any way, you would, at least eventually, be paying the Finnish rates and there's much less flexibility.

[Zack999]

Last time I looked at crossed border working, it seemed to apply to people living in one country, and physically crossing a border to work in another, so I didn't think it would apply to UK/Finland, where you work remotely. I also thought that it was individually negotiated for countries that shared a border. But I would be interested to know if you find something different, it was some time since I looked into that. I'm British, my company looked into employing me as a Finnish resident. They came to the conclusion that it was too expensive, and too complicated. They would be responsible for pension and social security payments etc. From my research, I didn't think it would cost them anything more significant, as I was already in one of the most expensive UK pension systems. But that might be more to do with our HR department, and internal charges, and just not wanting to deal with the bureaucracy, or simply not bothering to actually find out. I wasn't aware of what you said about companies not having physical locations. For an employer it is far easier to just employ someone as a freelancer or a secondment, where they can pass on the responsibilities. But not all organisations like that sort of setup