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by scrollinondubs 1362 days ago
I worked previously for a US-based company that hired engineers from around the world (Pagely) and they didn't care where anyone worked. I don't have any specific advice other than these employers exist and you just have to find them. These are good sites with ability to filter down to remote-only: https://angel.co/jobs https://remoteok.com/ https://weworkremotely.com/

If you get pushback based on complexity it creates for them having to manage payroll/tax witholding in different jurisdictions there are services like this one: https://opolis.co/ I would figure out fees for that and bake it into your proposed salary. You would have to do the math but could still represent a more cost effective hire to them and with no additional complexity... at least that's how I'd try to make the case. good luck

3 comments

Most US companies will not deal with hiring someone as a direct employee from a country with the kind of worker protections most European countries have—unless they already have a presence there (and are likely paying local rates anyway).
Can't you start a company in the EU and get hired as a contractor to circumvent this?

That's the way to go for BR developers. You even get some cool tax breaks for exporting services.

Yes, that's the way you do it, at least in Poland.

You start a sole proprietorship and then just invoice your US-based client monthly.

It's very simple for both sides.

It’s simple for now because no one is looking at it. But it will cause a world of problems for employers who are treating contractors as de facto employees when and if someone does start looking.
Within a country - yes, if those kind of laws exist( e.g. IR35 in the UK). Between countries - very very unlikely.
Do you have to do anything special with regards to vat? You’re selling services to a US company. Just asking
US is not part of VAT system so nothing applies there.
No problem at all. US company pays zero VAT. Any accountant can help with billing and tax reporting specifics.
I was asking because last year I billed a few times from NL a company registered in Florida. My accountant thought for some reason that I had to inform tax authorities over there. But he didn’t have experience with it.
https://remote.com/ also handles international payroll/HR/employer of record stuff.
https://opolis.co/ seems to be US-only.