Will US companies be less willing to hire me in Spain, because of tax reasons?

Question

I’m looking for people’s experiences working a U.S. job remotely while living in Spain. Are jobs like these difficult or impossible to find? What kind of work typically allows these distances?

Edit for context: I’ll have a family member of an EU citizen visa soon, so that’s not an issue. My main concern is: will US companies be less willing to hire me if I’m in the EU, because of tax reasons?

Answers

These are the answers of some Facebook group members:

“Both my niece and nephew found all remote work with US companies, but they have US passports and can work there so paperwork is not an issue for their employers. I also work for a US company, they pay me as a normal US employee and I file taxes in Spain as a tax resident and in the US as a non resident….my husband does the same w his US employer. If you are not a US citizen nor have an American work visa, then that is probably when the company needs a Spanish payroll/entity and gets more difficult. In terms of taxes, I pay Spain first, then what I paid is counted towards my US taxes, so no double pay. If anything, because there is some automatic witholding from my US checks and as a non resident you have over $100k foreign earned income non taxable, I usually get money back from the US. But all Americans are required to file US taxes anyway regardless of where they live or work.”

“I was lucky enough to be hired by a US company last year. After 2020 a lot of companies started using third parties like Deel (also Oyster, Globalisation partners, Safe guard global to name a few) that have created legal entities in a lot of countries all over the world and can contract people and just be their employer of record while they are actually working for the US company. So like this they are compliant with the local tax laws and actually pay less in salary than they would if they hired somebody based in the states. So if a job offer says that it’s remote and doesn’t specify country or region, go for it! I work for a SaaS company.”

“I work for a large US-based NGO but live here”

“A US based company could only hire you as a salaried employee when they have a legal entity in that country (Spain) including all related implications and this doesn’t end with income tax implications. There is more to the story. One way of solving this, however, is to hire you as contractor / freelancer.”

“If you’re getting the family member visa you can just work here. There are a lot of English-based tech and service companies. But salaries will be lower.”

“If you were a hiring manager, would you want to hire someone to your team that lives on the other side of the world? That’s the question I always ask myself. Tax implications and legality aside, it’s an uphill battle here unfortunately. I can’t say it’s impossible because I have a friend who works US hours and works for a US firm and lives in Europe (dual citizenship), but you’ll have to show that you’re pretty much irreplaceable IMO.
Depends on the industry as well. If you’re a creative it’s much easier. Market’s crappy right now and won’t change much this year if you’re looking for finance or tech or any other jobs”

“I’ve had a really hard time finding this kind of job – been looking for over a year. A lot of companies don’t want to deal with the tax implications”

“My company does it for contractors. They are hired through our US department, even if they are located in Europe and work EU hours. It’s all IT/tech, which I believe is the typical case for this kind of remote work. Salaried employees are hired locally.”

“I have been doing this with the uk for the last 3 years. The new dnv shud help, i work in IT on global transformation projects, so teams are traditionally all over the world. If you want sponsoring then Amazon and tech data are huge companies with presence in usa and Barcelona.”

The Spanish Digital Nomads Visa will be out in full at the end of March.. then you could see all the requirements”

In conclusion, remote work for a US company while living in Spain is possible, but it depends on various factors, such as citizenship, visa status, and the nature of the job. While Spainguru’s Facebook group members reported success in finding remote work with US companies, others faced challenges, particularly in dealing with tax implications. One option for US companies is to hire contractors or use third-party entities to ensure compliance with local tax laws. The IT and tech industry seems to be the most typical case for this kind of remote work. With the new Spanish Digital Nomads Visa set to be available at the end of March, it remains to be seen how it will affect job opportunities for those interested in remote work in Spain.