Tax When Working Abroad During a Ski Season

Tax is the thing most seasonaires don't think about until the season is over — and by then, some have already missed a refund worth several hundred euros. This guide won't replace an accountant, but it will give you the framework most working seasonaires actually need.

Important caveat up front: tax situations are personal and can be complex. The below is a general framework. If your situation involves multiple countries in the same tax year, self-employment income, significant assets, or anything unusual, get proper advice from a tax professional or expat tax service.

The core principle: you pay tax where you earn money

If you work in France, you pay French income tax on French earnings. If you work in Austria, you pay Austrian tax. If you work in Canada, Canadian tax.

Your home country generally does not tax income that has already been taxed abroad — most countries have either double taxation agreements or simply exempt foreign-earned income from domestic tax if you're non-resident. This is the basic principle that most seasonaires operate on.

That said, your home country's rules about what makes you a tax resident — and therefore what obligations remain — vary. More on the UK position below.

How it works in practice

Your employer deducts income tax and social contributions from your wages at source, automatically, every month. This is standard across France, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, and most major ski countries. You don't do anything upfront.

The important question is what happens at year-end: were you overtaxed? In most cases, yes — and claiming back the difference requires filing a tax return or a specific refund claim in the country where you worked.

Country-by-country notes

France

France operates a Pay As You Earn system called Prélèvement à la Source, where tax is deducted monthly from your wages. At the end of the tax year, you should file a French tax return (déclaration de revenus) via impots.gouv.fr — this is what triggers any refund.

Seasonal workers are commonly overtaxed at a standard withholding rate, because the system assumes you'll earn at that level for the full year. If you worked five months, your actual annual income is lower, and your marginal rate is lower — a refund is often due.

If you were in France for fewer than 183 days in the calendar year, you may be classified as a non-resident for French tax purposes, which changes how your income is assessed. The non-resident rules are different and worth checking specifically. When in doubt, consult a tax professional.

Austria

Income tax in Austria is also deducted at source. Foreign workers on short-term contracts can often reclaim overpaid tax by filing an Arbeitnehmerveranlagung — an employee tax assessment. This is a standard process, not an unusual one, and is worth doing.

You can file by post or in person at the Finanzamt (local tax office). Refunds typically take two to four months to arrive. Austrian tax returns can be filed for up to five years retroactively, so if you worked a past season and didn't claim, you may still be able to.

Switzerland

Switzerland's system for short-term foreign workers uses cantonal withholding tax — called Quellensteuer — deducted at source. Rates vary by canton (Valais, where Verbier and Zermatt sit, has different rates to Graubünden where St Moritz is).

A refund is possible if your actual annual income, once annualised correctly, puts you in a lower bracket than the rate applied. The process involves filing a correction request with the cantonal tax authority.

Canada

Canadian income tax is deducted at source and the tax year runs January through December. If you worked only part of the year — say, a December to April season — your total annual income is significantly lower than a full-year salary, meaning your actual marginal rate is lower than the rate withheld.

Non-resident workers file a non-resident income tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The filing deadline for non-residents is June 30 (rather than the standard April 30 for residents). Refunds are processed in the standard CRA timescales — allow several months.

UK nationals working abroad

If you are UK-domiciled but work abroad for a full UK tax year (April 6 to April 5 the following year), you may qualify as non-resident in the UK under HMRC's Statutory Residence Test (SRT). If so, you generally won't owe UK income tax on earnings made and taxed abroad.

If you're only abroad for part of a tax year — say, you left in November and returned in April — the position is more complex, and depends on factors like how many days you spent in the UK and the nature of your ties. HMRC has an online tool to check your residence status.

Student loans: if you were abroad full-time and not earning UK income, you generally don't make repayments during that period — but you need to inform the Student Loans Company. Don't assume it pauses automatically.

The refund opportunity — why it matters

The reason most seasonaires are overtaxed is mechanical: withholding tax is calculated as if your monthly earnings represent a full year's salary. Five months at €2,000/month looks like €24,000 per year to the withholding system, so you're taxed accordingly. But your actual annual income was €10,000 — a lower marginal rate applies. The difference is real and can amount to several hundred euros, Swiss francs, or Canadian dollars.

The refund doesn't arrive automatically. You have to claim it by filing the relevant return or assessment in the country where you worked. Most countries allow several years to do this, so even if you're reading this after your season, check whether you're within the window.

Services like Taxback.com specialise in exactly this — seasonal worker tax refunds across France, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, and other ski countries. If the admin of dealing with a foreign tax authority in a foreign language feels like too much, these services handle it for a percentage of the refund. Often still worth it.

The golden rule: keep everything

Every payslip, every annual equivalent (P60 in the UK, lohnzettel in Austria, relevé de situation in France) — keep all of it. You need these documents to file any refund claim. If your employer provided them digitally, download and save them before you lose access to the payroll portal at the end of your contract.

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This article is a general framework, not tax advice. Tax law changes and individual circumstances vary. For anything complex — multiple countries, self-employment, significant assets — consult a qualified tax professional or expat tax service.