Tools · For employers

Can they work from there?

For managers and HR. Someone on your team wants to work from abroad for a while. Tell us where, and for how long, and we will show you the four things that can turn a yes into a tax bill: their residence, your payroll, social security, and a taxable presence for the company.

UK employer · Spain · 6 months, about 183 days

Manageable, with paperwork and a check or two.

  • 0 low
  • 4 to watch
  • 0 high

  1. Their tax residence

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    Right at the day line

    A few days either way decides it. About 183 days does not reach Spain's line, if the stay falls in one counting period. A home, family or main interests there can still make them resident. The rule: More than 183 days in a calendar year. Short trips away still count as days in Spain unless you can prove you are resident somewhere else. Having your main economic interests in Spain makes you resident regardless.

    The rule, as the tax tracker states it

  2. Your payroll

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    Inside the treaty's day line

    The 2013 convention keeps the salary taxable only in the UK for an employee there no more than 183 days in any 12 months starting or ending in the tax year, paid by an employer not resident there, and not charged to a branch there. About 183 days is inside that, as long as the employee stays resident in the UK for treaty purposes. That is close to the line, so count the days carefully, including travel days.

    gov.uk, UK-Spain tax treaties · HMRC, tax treaties

  3. Social security

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    UK cover, with a certificate

    Under the UK-EU trade agreement, an employee sent to work temporarily in an EU country for up to two years can stay in UK National Insurance with a certificate of coverage (form PDA1) from HMRC. gov.uk says the employer must have sent them or agreed to them working there temporarily, so a request you approve can count. Without the certificate, contributions are normally due in Spain.

    gov.uk, National Insurance for workers from the UK working in the EEA or Switzerland

  4. A taxable presence

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    Depends on the reason

    The OECD's November 2025 guidance says a home generally will not count as a fixed place of business if the employee works from it for less than half their working time over 12 months. At half or more, it asks whether the company has a commercial reason for them to be there; keeping the employee happy or saving office costs does not count. Countries do not all follow OECD guidance.

    OECD, November 2025 update to the Model Tax Convention · Deloitte summary of the OECD 2025 update

On the UK side

HMRC's PAYE Manual says that if an employee is sent abroad by the employer, the employer must continue to operate PAYE, unless HMRC issues a code that says otherwise. Form P85 is for someone leaving the UK to live or work abroad full-time, so a stay like this does not usually need one. HMRC PAYE Manual, PAYE81640

In Spain

For the international telework visa, Spanish consulates ask for proof that the employer is registered with Spanish Social Security when the employee has no certificate showing they stay covered at home. They also ask that the company has existed for at least a year and the employee has worked there for at least three months. Spanish consulate, telework visa requirements

This is not tax or legal advice. It is the first filter: it tells you which questions to take to an adviser, and gives you the rule and source behind each one. Every case turns on facts it cannot see, from where the employee is resident to what their contract says.

How it counts. The stay is treated as one continuous stay of about 30 days a month, inside one counting period. Treaty lines are taken from each treaty's employment article; the residence lines come from the tax tracker. Checked 4 October 2026 against HMRC's and the IRS's treaty lists, the treaty texts, HMRC's NI38 guidance, gov.uk's guidance under the UK-EU trade agreement, and the SSA's list of agreements.

What it does not cover. Employment law, immigration (whether they may work there at all), and local payroll registration rules beyond those named. The OECD guidance on home offices comes from a summary of the November 2025 update; the OECD text itself could not be read for this page.