| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | An agency that doesn't use invoices Thread poster: Elina Sellgren
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inkweaver 
Germany
Local time: 16:48
French to German
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| German point of view | Nov 20, 2013 |
From my German point of view I would strongly advise to issue an invoice anyway. If the company isn't located in the EU you don't have to bother with VAT anyway. I work with agencies that have an online invoicing system, I still issue "proper" invoices with all my and their business details on them. I don't care what they do with them, that's entirely up to them, but I make sure that my records are complete and comply with German tax laws.
Here, it would certainly not be up to you t... See more From my German point of view I would strongly advise to issue an invoice anyway. If the company isn't located in the EU you don't have to bother with VAT anyway. I work with agencies that have an online invoicing system, I still issue "proper" invoices with all my and their business details on them. I don't care what they do with them, that's entirely up to them, but I make sure that my records are complete and comply with German tax laws.
Here, it would certainly not be up to you to declare them with your normal income or not. Not declaring them would simply amount to tax evasion, something I would certainly not get involved in. What others do in Germany (especially the "big ones") is a different story, but I prefer to keep everything legal. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Elina Sellgren
Finland
Local time: 17:48
Member (2013)
English to Finnish
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TOPIC STARTER
[/quote]
Hi Elina, Just to corroborate slightly what other people have said: it is conceivable, depending on their country and tax regime, that an "invoice" from you doesn't serve any purpose for them. Presumably, the tax office in their country will be more concerned about money that they are receiving rather than money they are paying out, and if they're not allowed to tax-deduct the money they're paying you, then the invoice from you probably serves no formal purpose for them. If... See more [/quote]
Hi Elina, Just to corroborate slightly what other people have said: it is conceivable, depending on their country and tax regime, that an "invoice" from you doesn't serve any purpose for them. Presumably, the tax office in their country will be more concerned about money that they are receiving rather than money they are paying out, and if they're not allowed to tax-deduct the money they're paying you, then the invoice from you probably serves no formal purpose for them. If this was the case for a translation agency, it would put them frankly at a bit of a disadvantage, but it's feasible.
However, if your tax regime in *your* country requires you to issue an invoice, even though it serves no formal purpose to the agency, you should still do so. (I think that means that if you're based anywhere in the EU, you need to issue an invoice, for example.)
If, formally speaking for tax purposes, neither you nor the agency requires the invoice, you are still free to issue a "Pro forma invoice", meaning an invoice that sets out all the details of the agreed payment, but which isn't actually used formally for tax purposes. From your point of view, I can't see any reason for not doing so.
As far as I'm aware, Paypal payments are fairly traceable and Paypal have to implement statutory measures to detect tax fraud and money laundering, so so long as they're actually paying you what they owe you, I think Paypal is as safe as anything.
[Edited at 2013-11-19 23:02 GMT] [/quote]
Hmm, so it may be possible that they are not evading taxes or it may be that they are. I think I will look into their legitimacy and PayPal identity like suggested - this is a new client so I'm not really giving up much if I drop them.
For my part, I have to devise and send an invoice and I would be doing everything right according to my country's tax authorities even if the client ignored it, but that doesn't mean it would be ethical to support tax-evading business in some other country, which is why I feel so uneasy about this. ▲ Collapse
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