EEA Family Permit for UK (Surinder Singh) SELF-EMPLOYED Tax!

[norwegianish]

(Following from this initial post: http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 428#821428)

Hi all! We have been trying to get a specific answer from the UKBA and tax authorities (in the non-UK EEA country where we will be living before returning to the UK), and neither of them can answer the following question:

Re: Applying for the EEA Family Permit to bring non-EEA Spouse to UK
For a UK citizen registered as self-employed in another EEA country (in our case, Norway), do they have to show that they have already PAID TAX in that EEA country, or is it sufficient to show that the UK citizen has fully registered with all the relevant authorities (registration certificate, tax ID, bank account, official business register) but has not yet received the end-of-year tax return?

(We cannot stay in Norway for the full tax year, we can only stay about 3+ months - so we can't wait on receiving the final tax return next year)

Alternatively, could we voluntarily pay some tax in ADVANCE (this seems to be an option in Norway), get a basic receipt for this payment and provide this as evidence?

The "problem" is that we have found out from the Norwegian tax authorities that the UK citizen actually WON'T be liable for Norwegian tax as a self-employed sole trader, because they will not have spent more than 50% of the full year in Norway. I imagine that any tax we paid in advance would probably be returned to us at the end of the year, anyway (as incorrectly paid). So, it's tricky - we WANT to pay Norwegian tax for the time we spend there (for EEA Family Permit purposes), but we're not liable!

What does everyone think? Will the ECO accept all the other registration evidence (WITHOUT the final tax return)? Surely they must do, as there have been so many other people who have succeeded with this route, having spent less that 6 months in the other (non-UK) EEA country...?

[vinny]

Please continue in original thread.