Workcations: How to enjoy a holiday environment without using up your annual leave

Irish Times

3 days ago

Swapping
remote work
in your box room for sunnier climes sounds tempting. With a workcation, you get to enjoy the perks of a holiday environment without using up annual leave.
Pick the right destination and it can be far cheaper to work elsewhere while getting paid from Ireland.
'Work from anywhere' policies have become more prevalent post-pandemic. The option to work somewhere other than the office or your home, including another country, from between two weeks to 30 or 90 days a year or more is offered by many well-known employers in Ireland. Some permit it in 'holiday' months, such as August and December.
Google
,
HubSpot
and
MasterCard
are among employers here offering such a perk.
READ MORE
Googlers enjoy up to four 'work-from-anywhere' weeks a year during which they can temporarily work from a location other than their main office.
HubSpot's 'temporary mobility' policy facilitates employees looking to do a 90-day stint in any country where they are authorised to work.
MasterCard in Ireland's 'work from elsewhere' policy has enabled one senior product manager to work from their 'dream city' of Rome for four weeks, according to the company's recruitment materials.
'In my last month of a house lease, I thought I could take a small break from Dublin and experience Italian culture and cuisine, so I decided to rent an apartment in Rome for a month.
'The change of scenery, authentic pasta and magnificent architecture helped me to recharge and refresh as well as find that work-life balance, which helped me stay calm, focused, and happy,' the senior product manager reports.
[
Majority of workers see hybrid working as essential to wellbeing, survey shows
Opens in new window
]
Single workers can be particularly mobile, but embracing a workcation can work for families too.
For parents managing eight weeks of primary school summer holidays, extending a family holiday with a workcation may enable them to spend a whole summer in another country.
Choose the right destination
A workcation is likely to be about experiencing another place or culture rather than saving money – although doing it in a lower-cost economy can make it feel like your pay cheque has doubled.
France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Croatia all rank cheaper than Ireland for food and drink, according to Eurostat figures for 2023.
Irish woman Louise Egan has returned to Portugal to work remotely for two- and three-month stints at a time over the past three years. She can enjoy a coffee and a pastel de nata for less than €2 in the cafe around the corner from her apartment share in Lisbon.
'For young people, it's kind of hard to enjoy yourself in Ireland; everything is just so expensive,' says Egan.
On a typical workcation, you are not going to be gone from Ireland for a long enough period to stop being an Irish tax resident so your taxes will look the same
—
Louise Egan
She and her mother own a company in Ireland, but Egan can do her work from abroad for months at a time. She's worked remotely from Lisbon since February this year. Portugal's better weather makes for cheaper living, she says.
'When you socialise in Ireland, you tend to go for drinks, but here there are so many outdoor things happening – open air concerts, cinema. I tend to live a much more active, outdoor and cheaper lifestyle.'
Living with her boyfriend, the couple's monthly grocery bill is just €200. A meal for two in a traditional Portuguese restaurant is €14 a head.
English is widely spoken, wifi is ubiquitous and reliable, and she's remained on her normal phone plan at home without any extra cost.
Irish people are surprised by Portugal's value-for-money proposition, Portugal's ambassador to Ireland HE Bernardo Lucena said at a recent Moving to Portugal show in Dublin, which was backed by the Portuguese chamber of commerce in the UK.
'We have been seeing increasing numbers of digital nomads settling in Portugal, making the most of our friendly atmosphere, digital services and excellent broadband,' says Lucena.
[
Could Ireland's new mortgage offerings save you a lot of money?
Opens in new window
]
Life in Lisbon is 36 per cent cheaper than Dublin, Porto is 44 per cent cheaper and Faro is 46 per cent cheaper, according to the cost of living calculator Expatistan.
Rent in Lisbon can be expensive but is not as expensive as Dublin, says Egan. A two-bed apartment can cost about €1,500 a month in the city. A room in a shared apartment in some parts of Lisbon can cost around €450 a month. Other parts of Portugal will be cheaper.
Egan knows plenty of Irish workcationers and digital nomads through the Lisbon Celtiberos GAA club.
'Every time I come back, I meet more people doing the same thing. Portugal is pushing it and there are lots of events for digital nomads,' says Egan.
'It depends on people's work policies, but most people come from between one or two months – but I think one month is too short. Visit to research your location before coming and stay for three months.'
When it comes to healthcare, Irish citizens have the same access to Portuguese health facilities as Portuguese citizens, so you can expect equivalent care, says Christina Hippisley of the Portuguese chamber of commerce.
Paying for dental treatment privately is lower there too.
A workcation is a lifestyle choice, not a tax play. Photograph: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Tax
A workcation is a lifestyle choice not a tax play, says Stephanie Wickham, founder of expattaxes.ie.
'On a typical workcation, you are not going to be gone from Ireland for a long enough period to stop being an Irish tax resident so your taxes will look the same,' says Wickham.
Workers remain resident in Ireland for tax purposes if in Ireland for 183 days or more in a tax year, or 280 days or more in total over the current tax year plus the previous one. These residency rules apply to both PAYE workers and the self-employed.
'Even if you went for the whole summer, you would still have spent 183 calendar days in Ireland this year,' says Wickham. 'If you went for seven calendar months this year, you would still be an Irish tax resident because of the two-year rule, or the 'look back' rule.
'That rule really keeps Irish people in the tax net if they are only spending five or six months out of the country on an ongoing basis.'
[
Why most families can't afford to take paternity leave
Opens in new window
]
In any event, if your employer is paying you through an Irish payroll, they have to withhold Irish taxes at source, unless you are going for an extended period and you break residency.
The self-employed will be dealing with their own taxes, but unless they break residency, their income stays in the Irish tax net, says Wickham.
In broad terms, many jurisdictions will allow workcation stays without there being a local tax obligation, but if you are spending an extended period anywhere, it is best to consult a local tax adviser, says Wickham.
If you are an Irish tax resident, you are allowed to claim credits as normal, says Wickham. The self employed can claim expenses as usual that are wholly and exclusively related to their work.
'But if you have decided to fly to Portugal to do your job there for example, and you are not necessarily required to do it there, then it's highly likely Revenue would be of the view that your flight to Portugal was not a business expense,' says Wickham.
Employers are generally careful to cap the number of days an employee can work from another country, she says.
'Otherwise an employee can sometimes drag the employer into the tax net in another country. If they have employees going off and doing this, their policy will ensure there are no surprises down the track.'
If your job is mostly remote, you really should tell your employer if you are doing it from overseas. Aside from tax, there may be legal implications for your employer too.
You may be breaching data protection laws or contracts with customers by processing their personal data in another country. Your employer may need to ensure they have extra measures in place to protect data being processed in that other country.
Failure to tell your employer you are working from another country could even result in disciplinary action.
Trend?
Over half of workers in Ireland have some flexibility in their work, opening up possibilities to travel, according to a survey published by Dutch neobank, Bunq, last summer.
Bunq, which refers to itself as a bank 'built by digital nomads for digital nomads', added to its workforce here last year, saying many of the positions would allow employees to work from anywhere in the world.
Its survey of employed and self-employed workers found that 61 per cent of the 788-person sample had already taken advantage of remote work by working from a location other than their home, while 52 per cent had already experienced a workcation.
[
'How we saved €100k in four years'
Opens in new window
]
About 85 per cent of respondents expressed a desire to take workcations, whether in Ireland or abroad. Employer policies and cost were listed as the main barriers to doing so.
Visiting outside peak tourist season can reduce your accommodation costs, and take pressure off local resources. An influx of visitors to popular areas has contributed to rising costs of living for locals, increased competition for housing and created potential strain on resources. Yet many governments are promoting their countries as a destination for workcationers and digital nomads.
Some economically depressed and underpopulated regions like Extremadura and parts of Andalucia in Spain and Romania are welcoming them with open arms. Greece offers a digital nomad visa for up to one year.
In general, workcationers should be mindful of where they go and how they behave.
'I have a lot of Portuguese friends and sometimes I do feel really bad because the Portuguese minimum wage is so low, it's about €800 a month,' says Egan.
'Now that I've been here longer I've become more aware of that issue, but I don't think it should stop people coming as long as you are not disrespectful.'