# Hiring a Filipino Virtual Assistant From the UK: Costs, IR35, Contracts and Hours Published 2026-10-15 by Sid Jashnani. A UK founder's guide to hiring in the Philippines: IR35, contracts, GDPR, hours, and the $1,800 starting price. Not legal or tax advice. # Hiring a Filipino Virtual Assistant From the UK: Costs, IR35, Contracts and Working Hours ![Hiring a Filipino Virtual Assistant From the UK](/blog-images/hire-filipino-virtual-assistant-uk/cover.png) UK companies do hire full-time assistants in the Philippines. Rekruuto's usual starting price is $1,800 a month for most roles, including an [executive assistant](https://www.rekruuto.net/executive-assistant). IR35 is not a slogan you can skip. Whether off-payroll rules apply depends on the worker's UK tax position and on whether you are a UK client. This is not legal or tax advice. Read HMRC's manuals with your accountant before you rely on a blog. The practical hiring notes that are not UK-specific are in [tips for hiring a Filipino virtual assistant](https://blog.rekruuto.net/top-tips-for-hiring-a-filipino-virtual-assistant-in-2025) and [why companies outsource to the Philippines](https://blog.rekruuto.net/top-reasons-for-outsourcing-work-to-the-philippines-benefits-challenges). ## Can a UK business legally hire a worker in the Philippines? Yes, UK businesses do it every week, either through a staffing firm, an employer of record, or a direct contract. "Legal" still means you pick a structure and you follow it. Three common paths: - A staffing agency places a vetted person and bills you a monthly fee. Rekruuto is in this category. Most full-time roles start at $1,800 a month, with a start aimed at 14 days and a 1-week trial with replacement or refund. Ask who the legal employer is. Do not guess. - An employer of record employs someone you found and runs Philippine payroll. You still manage the work. - You contract with the person directly. That can be appropriate, and it can also be employment in disguise. Get advice in both countries if the relationship looks like a job: set hours, your tools, you as the only client. The split between those paths is in [staffing agency vs EOR vs Upwork](https://blog.rekruuto.net/offshore-staffing-agency-vs-eor-vs-upwork). Intellectual property and confidentiality belong in the contract before files move. So does what happens to logins if the person stops. A polite email thread is not a contract. Paying an invoice in dollars or pounds does not choose the structure. The working relationship does. ## Does IR35 apply to an offshore virtual assistant? Not in the blanket way people repeat. HMRC's off-payroll rules (Chapter 10) only matter where the worker has a UK tax or National Insurance liability. A person who is not UK resident and does all the work in the Philippines is in a different position from a UK contractor. You still need an accountant, because residency and duties are facts, not a blog sentence. Start with [ESM10025](https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-status-manual/esm10025). HMRC says an engagement can fall within Chapter 10 only if the worker is within the UK charge to tax or NICs. The same page says a worker who is not UK-resident and is performing work outside the UK is unlikely to fall within that charge. If there is no UK tax or NIC liability, the client does not have to consider Chapter 10. That is the sentence that matters for a Philippines-based assistant. HMRC's word on that page is "unlikely". Check the person's residence and where the work is done if they spend time in the UK or have another UK tax connection. [ESM10026](https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-status-manual/esm10026) is easy to misread. It explains the "client wholly overseas" case: Chapter 10 does not apply where a medium or large non-public client is not UK resident and has no UK permanent establishment. A normal UK limited company is not a wholly overseas client. Do not cite the overseas-client example as the reason your Philippine hire is outside IR35. The worker's own UK tax position is the point to take to your accountant. Chapter 8, the older intermediaries rules, is a separate question and usually sits with the worker's intermediary, not with a simple employment abroad. Do not mix the chapters in a Slack message and call it compliance. Nothing here is advice to ignore PAYE, a status determination, or a contract review. If your accountant says your facts are inside the rules, follow that, not this article. ## How much does a Filipino virtual assistant cost in pounds? Rekruuto publishes the price in US dollars: most full-time roles from $1,800 a month, and an AI Implementation Specialist from $2,500 a month. Convert on the day you budget. On the day you budget, convert $1,800 at a rate you can name (your bank, or the rate your card will actually use) and write the date next to it. Do the same for $2,500 if you are hiring the specialist. Add any transfer fee your bank charges. That total is your sterling cost for the month. It is not a tax figure. What $1,800 does not include: your software seats, or employer's National Insurance and pension if you would have hired in the UK. Compare it with a UK salary you have seen for the same work, plus those employer costs. The US median wage for executive secretaries, which is a different comparison, is in [virtual executive assistant cost](https://blog.rekruuto.net/virtual-executive-assistant-cost). Use it as a dollar benchmark, then convert on the same day if you need sterling. ## What UK hours can a Filipino assistant cover? Philippine Time is 8 hours ahead of UTC, and the Philippines uses that one zone. [timeanddate's Philippines page](https://www.timeanddate.com/time/zone/philippines) describes Philippine Time as UTC+8. London is on British Summer Time (UTC+1) until 02:00 on Sunday 25 October 2026, then Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0), according to [timeanddate's London page](https://www.timeanddate.com/time/zone/uk/london). While the UK is on BST, Manila is 7 hours ahead. A UK morning of 09:00 to 13:00 is 16:00 to 20:00 in Manila. That is an afternoon and evening there, not a night shift. While the UK is on GMT, Manila is 8 hours ahead. The same UK morning is 17:00 to 21:00 in Manila. Still the same calendar day, still not an overnight shift. A full UK working day, 09:00 to 17:00, overlaps the Philippine late afternoon and evening. Many assistants cover a UK morning live and do deep work before you come online. Agree the overlap in the contract. Do not assume "they work UK hours" means a 09:00 to 17:30 seat in London time unless you have asked and they have agreed. The fuller grid, including US Eastern, is in do Filipino virtual assistants work US or UK hours. Customer support usually needs more live overlap than bookkeeping or design. | UK local time | Manila while UK is on BST (UTC+1) | Manila while UK is on GMT (UTC+0) | | --- | --- | --- | | 08:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | | 09:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | | 12:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 | | 13:00 | 20:00 | 21:00 | | 17:00 | 00:00 next calendar day | 01:00 next calendar day | The clocks go back in the UK on 25 October 2026. Tell the assistant the week before. Their side does not change. ## What about UK GDPR when an offshore assistant handles customer data? You remain responsible for the personal data. Sending it to a person in the Philippines is an international transfer question, and you should treat it as one before they open a customer spreadsheet. The ICO's starting point is its [international transfers guidance](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/international-transfers/). Work through whether you are making a restricted transfer. If you are, check whether an adequacy regulation covers the destination. This article does not claim that the Philippines is, or is not, covered. Look at the ICO's current list on the day you hire. If there is no adequacy regulation, the usual route is an appropriate safeguard such as the International Data Transfer Agreement, plus the transfer risk assessment the ICO describes. That is a document, not a vibe. Practical habits sit next to the paperwork. Give the assistant a named user on your systems. Do not share your password. Limit the files they can open. Do not let customer data sit in a personal Gmail or a free ChatGPT account. Agree what happens to exports when the contract ends. The house rules in [data security for remote teams](https://blog.rekruuto.net/top-strategies-for-data-security-for-remote-teams-protect-your-business) are the operating version of this paragraph. If you are unsure, do not hand over the customer file on day one. Start with work that does not include personal data, and add access after the paperwork exists. ### A UK checklist before you pay - Structure chosen: staffing agency, EOR, or direct contract, and you can say who employs the person. - Accountant has seen the facts against ESM10025, not a one-line IR35 myth. - Contract covers IP, confidentiality, notice, and logins. - Sterling cost written down, with the dollar price, the rate, and the date. - Overlap hours written down, including what happens on 25 October 2026 when the UK leaves BST. - International transfer considered, using the ICO guidance, before customer data moves. - Trial terms read on the [1-week trial with replacement or refund](https://www.rekruuto.net/risk-free-va-trial) page, not remembered from a sales call. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can a UK company hire in the Philippines? Yes. Use a staffing agency, an employer of record, or a direct contract, and be clear which one you are in. This article is not legal advice. ### Does IR35 automatically not apply because the work is abroad? No. HMRC's ESM10025 says Chapter 10 needs a UK tax or NIC liability, and a non-resident working wholly outside the UK is unlikely to have one. A UK company is not the "wholly overseas client" in ESM10026. Ask an accountant. ### What will $1,800 cost in pounds? Whatever your bank converts it to on the day, plus fees. This article does not lock a sterling figure. ### Do they work UK hours? You can cover a UK morning with a Philippine afternoon. Manila is 7 hours ahead during BST and 8 hours ahead during GMT. A full UK day runs into their evening. Agree the hours. ### Who is responsible for UK customer data? You are. Read the ICO international transfer guidance before an assistant opens a customer file, and do not assume an adequacy decision without checking the current list. ## Get matched with your hire If the checklist is something you will actually do, [get matched with your hire](https://www.rekruuto.net/va-strategy-call) and look at [roles](https://www.rekruuto.net/roles) or the [executive assistant](https://www.rekruuto.net/executive-assistant) seat. The [1-week trial with replacement or refund](https://www.rekruuto.net/risk-free-va-trial) does not replace the accountant or the ICO reading. It tells you whether the person can do the work.