Poll: Have you ever thought of transforming your freelance status to company? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever thought of transforming your freelance status to company?".
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When I retired in 2006 from the EU, I couldn't imagine not working anymore and the rules stated that to work freelance I had to wait a year, but those same rules didn't stop me from starting a translation company. That's what I did. We are now a very small familiar enterprise: I take care of the translation side and one of my daughters takes care of the administrative side.
| | | | Ana Vozone 
Local time: 13:19
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
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| I love my job, I love my boss | Oct 4, 2024 |
I am a freelance translator!
No real bosses, just clients
| | | | | Other - if I can live on it, I have to register as a company | Oct 4, 2024 |
In Denmark, where I live, I am obliged to register as a company, so it is the same thing.
The basic rule is that if a business earns more than DKK 50 000 (a year), which is about EU 6703, then it must be registered for VAT as a small company. So if you want to make a living from freelancing, you have to register a company. Some work expenses are then tax deductible, but only if you can show they are purely work related, and that you do not use the same things privately. As I work fr... See more In Denmark, where I live, I am obliged to register as a company, so it is the same thing.
The basic rule is that if a business earns more than DKK 50 000 (a year), which is about EU 6703, then it must be registered for VAT as a small company. So if you want to make a living from freelancing, you have to register a company. Some work expenses are then tax deductible, but only if you can show they are purely work related, and that you do not use the same things privately. As I work from home, there is no deduction for office space or heating etc. but a tradesman with a separate workshop could deduct expenses.
There are also distinct definitions of how I am independent and not employed when I work for clients. They cannot withold pension contributions or holiday pay, but I have to administer those myself, and the rules about sick pay or maternity leave are different for freelancers. And so on.
Since the UK is a so-called third country after Brexit, I do not have to charge 25% VAT to clients who are not VAT registered, or hassle with the Danish tax authorities about their exemption from VAT, but that is the only advantage from Brexit that I can think of!
[Edited at 2024-10-04 10:54 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| The two things are not different | Oct 4, 2024 |
A single-member company is still a effectively freelancer.
As indeed is a company with more than one member, if those members are inactive.
You seem to be trying to compare a regulated legal form or status with a nebulous state of affairs that lacks a precise definition.
| | | | Liena V.
Latvia
Local time: 15:19
Member (2014)
French to Latvian
+ ...
I already am operating as a company, but it only affects my legal status and accounting. As far as my daily business is concerned, I am still freelancing and just issuing invoices from my company.
| | | | | Attempted and gave up | Oct 4, 2024 |
As soon as I mentioned my paying clients in a mandatory financial control statement I lost them by unknown reason.
| | | | WolfgangS
France
Local time: 14:19
English to German
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| Wouldn't consider it | Oct 4, 2024 |
Years ago various well-meaning friends suggested that I start an agency, since I had been in the translation biz for a few years and worked with talented colleagues. Although I think I have good business sense and reasonable organizational skills, the thought of expanding beyond my single-shingle, one-person operation never crossed my mind. I was happy to take responsibility for my own work and was confident of the results when I occasionally outsourced overflow or shared large projects, but to ... See more Years ago various well-meaning friends suggested that I start an agency, since I had been in the translation biz for a few years and worked with talented colleagues. Although I think I have good business sense and reasonable organizational skills, the thought of expanding beyond my single-shingle, one-person operation never crossed my mind. I was happy to take responsibility for my own work and was confident of the results when I occasionally outsourced overflow or shared large projects, but to outsource on an ongoing basis was a risk I was unwilling to take. If I were to make any money, I would have had to pay a rate that any experienced translator would refuse. Capitalization was also an issue, since I was determined to save for retirement. Being an incorrigible introvert, I never developed marketing skills, and attribute any financial success I had to a combination of luck and a modicum of talent. Although I've had a few regrets in life, expanding my business was never one of them.
I did, however, register a business name with the local authorities which was on file with my bank since occasionally I would receive checks made out in the name of the entity identified on my web site and needed to deposit them into my bank account.
[Edited at 2024-10-04 21:46 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The question is incorrect, badly written or unintelligible | Oct 4, 2024 |
A formal partnership is also a company. We are registered, quite formally, in the German partnership register - and are thus unmistakably a company, as we have a corporate form of a kind. It is only not a limited company.
I find this question worded rather carelessly and imprecisely - which does not become an organisation for linguists.
Despite being in a company register, we are freelancers, and have freelance privileges, such as not having to do double-entry book-keep... See more A formal partnership is also a company. We are registered, quite formally, in the German partnership register - and are thus unmistakably a company, as we have a corporate form of a kind. It is only not a limited company.
I find this question worded rather carelessly and imprecisely - which does not become an organisation for linguists.
Despite being in a company register, we are freelancers, and have freelance privileges, such as not having to do double-entry book-keeping. ▲ Collapse
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