Living in Germany for Less Than 90 Days As US Citizen While Working Remotely For An American Company
I am planning to live with a friend in Germany and work remotely for an American company for a few weeks. I do not plan to stay longer than 90 days or to work for a Germany company while I am there. I am a US citizen.
I've done some research, and I don't believe I need anything besides a normal passport ("tourist visa") to stay for under 90 days. Since I'm working for an American company (which has no relation and no clients in Germany under any capacity), I don't think my taxes should be affected at all.
Does anyone know if this information is correct? Or will need a special visa and have to pay any taxes to Germany?
I'm also curious about health insurance. I'm under the impression that on a tourist visa and by being in the country for less than 90 days, I don't need one. Does anyone know?
Best Answer
- As I understand it, you would need a residency permit with work permission to work from within Germany, not matter who you work for. As a rule of thumb, visa-free travel allows you to talk about doing work while in Germany, but not to actually do work other than the necessary coordination.
But the Expatriates Stack Exchange can give better answers on that. - If you need a residency permit, you would also be a resident for tax and insurance purposes. If you are employed by that American company and not just a freelancer, they might not be amused that they now have an employee in Germany and need to report income tax for you ...
- There are still COVID-related travel restrictions in place, which are slowly easing up. You might have to go into quarantine, depending on exactly how and when you come.
- Also, if the "purpose" of the travel is to work remotely, it might not be classified as essential right now and get banned.
You call yourself "Aspiring Digital Nomad." My suggestion, wait a year. Right now is a bad time.
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Can I live in Germany and work remotely for a US company?
In Germany there is (currently) no legal entitlement to work from home or to mobile work. The employee is therefore only allowed to work from home or remotely if this is permitted either under an employment contract, a company agreement or provided for on a case-by-case basis as approved by the employer.Can a US citizen work remotely in Europe?
Can you work a US job remotely in Europe? Generally speaking, yes, you can work remotely for the US and live on another side of the world. However, a worker will need to pay attention to tax and residence regulations.Can I work remotely in another country for a few weeks?
In many countries, US citizens, as well as those of other nations, are able to work remotely and still be counted as tourists as long as their stay is shorter than 90 days or 180 days depending on the country.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Brett Sayles, Ketut Subiyanto, Ketut Subiyanto, Karolina Grabowska