Remote working is becoming ever more popular. Besides the trend of working from home, existing workers may want to move to other countries, either for a short period or long term, and the business may want to take advantage of the skills pool available by recruiting further afield. While there are many advantages of remote work, it also opens up new issues in legal and fiscal compliance. John Lee joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show to discuss the problem and show how his company, Work From Anywhere, gives an effective solution.

John Lee speaks 6 languages and has travelled to 60+ countries. Over the last 20 years he has lived in Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Thailand. His previous start-up, CultureMee, an intercultural communication platform, won “Best Travel Technology Product” at the Global Youth Travel Awards in 2018. Prior to CultureMee, John held senior finance roles in FTSE listed CRH Plc. There, he travelled to over 150+ locations over a 10 year period and got to see first hand the challenges of dealing with complex corporate tax, individual tax and employment law across multiple jurisdictions.

The conversation covered the challenges of managing compliance in remote and hybrid workforces. John Lee discussed his background in finance and startups, and how he enjoys working remotely with his family while navigating complex global tax laws.

John highlighted various tax, legal and employment risks companies face with international employees, such as visa requirements, individual and corporate tax, social security, and permanent establishment risks. Different countries have varying rules that can lead to penalties if not properly managed.

Kevin and John discussed the challenges of approving remote work locations and hiring overseas employees. John’s platform provides real-time risk assessments and compliance checklists to help businesses navigate these issues. It also saves companies time and money compared to external advisors.

Other topics included evolving hiring models like employers of record and contractors, roles popular for remote work, and the future of work being more agile and flexible. John is excited by AI’s potential but emphasizes human oversight for reliability in their legal/compliance domain.

GrowCFO members can take advantage of a range of member discounts, including an exclusive 10% discount on a Work From Anywhere subscription

Introducing John Lee (0:11)

Remote work challenges and solutions. (2:39)

Tax and employment risks for multinational companies. (6:37)

Hiring models and workforce strategies in international expansion. (10:37)

Hiring overseas risks and solutions. (14:36)

Remote work and its challenges in various locations. (19:04)

AI impact, remote work, and company benefits. (23:19)

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