Is it possible to work in a country and pay taxes in another within the EU?

Question

As an EU citizen and within the EU, is it possible to remotely work in one country and pay taxes in another?

My particular case would be:

• Employed, registered and paying taxes in Ireland
• Living in France

Answer 1

Well, in the situation you described, both countries will want you to pay taxes:

• Ireland, because your main source of income is in Ireland (employed by an Irish company);
• France, because your place of residence is in France, and because, as you work remotely, they consider that your main source of income is in France as well.

There are complex rules that try to make sure this doesn't happen and you only pay taxes in one of the two countries, but those can make your lawyer(s) rich.

Here's the convention on this topic between France and Ireland (french version). Don't read it too quickly, you may sometimes think "oh this is my case", only to find an exception on the next page, and the definitions can be quite complex.

In addition, there are also social security/national insurance charges, as well as work regulations which differ substantially, and France especially will be keen on having you pay your share in France, not in Ireland (unless you want to go to Ireland any time you need to see a doctor...).

See for instance the cases of airlines like Ryanair: they try all they can to make sure their staff is considered to be under Irish rules (for taxes, social security, regulations...), but France does not quite agree, and Ryanair was found guilty (in french). And that's for people who are not even always in France.

In your case, if you work "remotely", you are effectively working in France as well as living in France, so you should be employed under french law, pay french social security and french taxes. There's no going around that. You can try otherwise, but they'll catch up (even when you are legitimately working abroad they can be quite annoying).

If it weren't the case, all companies in France would already have set up a subsidiary in Ireland to employ all French employees who would be "working remotely".

If you want to pay taxes in Ireland, the solution is simple: move there.

Answer 2

In your case i doubt it, you pay taxes where you life. Where you life is decided, by the amount of days you were in the country in this years.

It is quite common in my region, to life in france and work in germany and vice versa since i live in a border region - but in your case i doubt you won't achieve this in longterm. If you start working in ireland now, you would most likely pay your taxes in france this year assuming you was there the first 9 month of this year. But you must report this to both countrys, then you get back your automatic paid taxes in ireland and pay your tax debt in france.

Edit: You work remotly out of france, and only your employer is in ireland-> you should pay taxes in france. Sorry i am bad in reading.