Hi

Does anybody know this

I have a Swiss residency/work permit

But I want to visit the UK and want to know how long I can visit without needing to pay UK tax

I plan to work from the UK (for the same Swiss company that I relocated to Switzerland for and I've been working at for the last three years)

Does it make a difference if I take the break as vacation instead of planning to work?

Rules are quite clear:

https://www.gov.uk/tax-foreign-incom...e%20tax%20year

Furthermore, if you earn money through working while in the UK, it's highly likely it's taxable there. The location of your employer is irrelevant.

You can simply google it. It can be quite simple if you meet any of the automatic tests either for resident or non-resident.
Seems you might meet the second automatic overseas test. If you do and you go over 45 days then if you work more than 30 days you have to go on to the slightly more complicated tests.

The Automatic Overseas Test
You would normally be considered a non-UK resident if you meet any one of the following elements of the Automatic Overseas Test:

1 You were considered as a UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years, but you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK in the current tax year
2 You spend fewer than 46 days in the UK in the tax year AND you were non-UK resident in the preceding three tax years
3 You work full time outside the UK and spend fewer than 91 days in the UK and you work fewer than 31 days in the UK for three hours or less in any given day.

So as a British national, who is employed full time for a Swiss employer, I can go back to the UK....

- And work for up to 30 days

- And the rest of the days should be non-working days (weekends or vacation days)

That's my understanding

Not sure what the gap between 16 and 183 days is about

The number of days mentioned are very specific in number like 46, 91, 183 days

The rules are out there - you need to figure out which apply to you. Read them more than once if neccessary.
30 working days would fall within 45 days, more or less a month and a half.
90 days is more or less three months.
183 is more or less half a year.

If you want to be included in no.3 then yes you can stay 90 days with 30 or fewer working days (I think it should say of 3 hours or more) but even if you don't meet the criteria for no.3 it doesn't automatically make you liable for tax - you then need to go onto the next tests where they count "ties".

And be careful. After 6 months out of Switzerland your Swiss permit expires.

i spent ages reading, there are so many caveats

feel stupid but does anyone else come to the same conclusion as me

as in, whatever the case, i can never work for more than 30 days in the uk for my Swiss employer? so I would need to book days off work?

Existing laws, rules and regulations were written long before working remotely became common (or even possible).

Before I retired I travelled extensively for my employer. While I was travelling I would continue to do my day job by e-mail (and before that using a proprietary message service). Nothing was ever said that suggested I was working illegally in a foreign country. In a few cases these away trips lasted more than 4 weeks.

I would say that as long as you are in the UK legally, there is nothing wrong with you continuing to do your Swiss job remotely. I’d be more concerned keeping my Swiss status and job.

Keep it under the radar are you'll get away with it, but it is tax evasion.

What bowlie said is out of date.

Those days are relevant if you don't fall into the automatic tests, then connections to the UK are counted.

And now I read quarantine due to coronavirus could count as exceptional circumstance so its not included as a day (10 days quarantine for travelling from Switzerland)!

In reality I doubt they'll fight many people on residence for 2020-2021 and to a lesser extent 2021-2022