Portugal Expat Forum

Working as an independent contractor

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mjohnson52312

10/28/2016 07:40 EST

I'm moving to Lisbon in December. My American employer would like me to keep working for them remotely, but we're finding the cost and complexity of compliance with Portuguese payroll to be prohibitively high. The other options are for me to work as an independent contractor, which would cost me more and restrict some tasks and access I have as an employee, or find an employee leasing company who could act as my Portuguese employer and middleman. Does anyone have experience with and advice to offer on either of these methods? Is there another way we haven't thought of? Thanks for any help you can offer!

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sshelton839

11/21/2016 17:41 EST

I am also interested in answers to these questions. If I act as an independent contractor paid in the US, what restrictions exist?

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OldPro

11/23/2016 13:53 EST

If you are working 'remotely' I don't see what Portuguese payroll has to do with it.

Are you going to be working ONLINE only? That is what I see 'remotely' as meaning. You will not be providing any service or any product IN Portugal.

If that is the case, you simply go online, do what you do and your employer pays you IN THE USA by direct deposit to your US bank account. That is perfectly legal. All you then do is use your US bank debit/credit cards to access your funds from the USA.

However, if you are in fact a legal Resident of Portugal, you do have to file a tax return in both Portugal and the USA and pay tax on the income in line with the tax treaty that exists between the USA and Portugal.

Read more on that in this recent thread: http://www.expatexchange.com/expat/index.cfm?frmid=278&tpcid=3416987

If on the other hand, by 'remotely' you mean the equivalent of setting up a subsiduary business in Portugal to provide a service or products in Portugal that is a whole different ball game.

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mjohnson52312

11/23/2016 17:29 EST

Thanks for the response. The employee issue is a bit more complicated than that, but the independent contractor method will be okay for me, based on info I've received from other sources since I posted the original message
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