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Certificates of Sponsorship (Work Permits) and Taxation
By Jacey Bedford
If you are entering the country to work and you don't have a British or an EU passport then you will need to have you paperwork in order prior to travelling. Don't try and blag your way in as you'll find yourself on the next flight home. Our immigration staff at airports are much more polite than (say) in America, but don't let that fool you. They still have the power to refuse you admission.
Work Permits
THE RULES CHANGED IN NOVEMBER 2008
Yes you need authorisation to enter the country if you are doing gigs in the UK, even if it's only a few gigs and you're not being paid much (even if you're not being paid anything, in fact). It's no longer called a work permit but think of it as that if it helps. It's now called a Certificate of Sponsorship. Only a licensed sponsor can apply for a certificate on your behalf, so even if you arrange your own tour you will need to pay someone with a sponsor's licence (like me) to apply for your certificate.
Sports and entertainment come under the new Tier 5 - and that's what I'm licensed to apply for - Tier 5 sponsorship certificates.
For the record, I can sort out sponsorship for artists not already on my agency roster, but because of the legal implications (for me) I do require a contract between us. And, of course, I charge a fee. Why? Because the work is time consuming, and because I have to fulfill serious legal requirements, too. A big responsibility.
And don't forget that you have to fulfil legal requirements too, like only doing work within the category you've applied for and not overstaying your allocated time etc.
Under the new system the application process is relatively straightforward if you are a citizen of a country that does not require a visa to travel to the UK (though there's a lot of careful form-filling to be done and you have to give a lot of personal information). A Certificate of Sponsorship comes in the form of a number. It's a virtual certificate - not a paper one. All you have to do is present that number to the immigration officials and it will enable them to find you (and your certificate) on their database.
Note: anyone coming in for longer than three months, or anyone coming in from a country where a visa is a pre-requirement for travel - such as South Africa - has to jump through hoops by getting documentation in their passport in their own country (called Entry Clearance) before travelling. For this you need your Certificate of Sponsorship number. Allow plenty of time. You need to apply to the British Embassy or High Commission in your own country. You can find detauls and download forms on the web. NOTE: I DO NOT DO THIS FOR YOU!
Foreign Entertainers' Taxation
Any gigs that pay more than £1,000 come with automatic obligations for the venue to withhold a percentage for UK tax unless you've applied for an exemption to the Foreign Entertainers Unit of the Inland Revenue (giving a clear tour budget with income and expenditure).
There are tax threshholds which differ depending on your country of origin. Canadians, for instance, can earn approximately £6,000 (per individual) in any one UK tax year (profit, after expenses) before they have to pay UK tax, but Americans have no such limit and pay tax from the get-go.
If earning more than £1,000 per gig the tax deductions will be made by the venue, if not, you can contact the FEU to ascertain whether you need to so a UK tax return..
If you apply to the Foreign Entertainers Unit for exemption from withholding tax you should be able to minimise your tax by offsetting your expenses. This should be done well in advance of a tour (at least four to six weeks). If you minimise your tax they will issue a withholding waiver to the venues so that you receive your fee in full.
If you do have to pay UK tax you should get all the relevant paperwork so you can claim it as tax paid in your own country when you come to do your own tax returns at the end of the year. You should not have to pay tax twice on the same amount of income, though the responsibility for checking this rests with you.
Foreign Entertainers Unit, Inland Revenue,
St John's House Unit 401
Merton Road
Bootle
L69 9BB
+ 44 151 472 6488