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Poll: Are you officially registered as a business? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Are you officially registered as a business?".
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Michael Harris 
Germany
Local time: 23:17
Member (2006)
German to English
with all the benefits of saving tax
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I'm not sure I understand the question. "As a business" meaning do I own a (one-person) company? No. Am I registered as a self-employed (running a business)? Yes; wouldn't it be illegal not to be registered in most (all?) countries?
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Michael Harris
Germany
Local time: 23:17
Member (2006)
German to English
M. Anna Kańduła wrote:
I'm not sure I understand the question. "As a business" meaning do I own a (one-person) company? No. Am I registered as a self-employed (running a business)? Yes; wouldn't it be illegal not to be registered in most (all?) countries?
Not ifyou aredoing it as a "second job" part time, then it runs under your "normal" tax number and you are not a company - or at least here in Germany
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Anne Bohy
France
Local time: 23:17
English to French
| Ambiguous question | Feb 21, 2014 |
This is a perfect example of a question which may sound clear in the context of a specific country, but becomes very ambiguous (and hard to translate) in a global context.
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bohy wrote:
This is a perfect example of a question which may sound clear in the context of a specific country, but becomes very ambiguous (and hard to translate) in a global context.
I am officially registered since 1973 as an independent (autonomous) personal services provider in Brazil. Would that be a "business"?
According to Brazilian law, it's not. My tax ID is personal, not corporate. However I am authorized to issue all documents legally required for my clients' accounting purposes, and we'll have to pay all taxes and social charges on them. It's not merely a 'receipt', nor cash passed under the table.
However I understand that each country allows people to work on their own in a different manner.
[Edited at 2014-02-21 09:56 GMT]
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| Question unclear | Feb 21, 2014 |
I answered "yes", because in Germany you do have to notify your tax office that you are working as a freelancer ("Anmeldung einer selbständigen Tätigkeit"), although it's incredibly easy and, as Michael Harris wrote, it doesn't even involve getting a new or separate tax number for your "business" (which, however, is not a "Gewerbe" - so maybe it's not a business at all).
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Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:17
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| My thoughts exactly | Feb 21, 2014 |
M. Anna Kańduła wrote:
Unclear
I'm not sure I understand the question. "As a business" meaning do I own a (one-person) company? No. Am I registered as a self-employed (running a business)? Yes; wouldn't it be illegal not to be registered in most (all?) countries?
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bohy wrote:
This is a perfect example of a question which may sound clear in the context of a specific country, but becomes very ambiguous (and hard to translate) in a global context.
Exactly, because
Michael Harris wrote:
Not ifyou aredoing it as a "second job" part time, then it runs under your "normal" tax number and you are not a company - or at least here in Germany
While in the UK you need to register still and pay due taxes and national insurance from both employment and freelancing.
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Allison Wright (X)
Portugal
Local time: 22:17
| Also unclear | Feb 21, 2014 |
In Portugal, there is a legal (and taxable) category called "trabalhador independente", or "independent worker" into which fall all self-employed people. I am registered as such at the tax department and at the social security office. Above a very low threshold, one has to charge VAT which, in my mind at least, makes me a business.
One's individual tax identification number is the only number required for this process of working your butt off in order to funnel money with mind-numbi... See more In Portugal, there is a legal (and taxable) category called "trabalhador independente", or "independent worker" into which fall all self-employed people. I am registered as such at the tax department and at the social security office. Above a very low threshold, one has to charge VAT which, in my mind at least, makes me a business.
One's individual tax identification number is the only number required for this process of working your butt off in order to funnel money with mind-numbing regularity to the State.
I cannot say that the tax structure in Portugal favours the entrepreneur, whether translator or not. ▲ Collapse
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DianeGM
Local time: 00:17
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
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I am also confused by the question.
In Greece there is no other legal way to operate.
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| Yes but no but yes | Feb 21, 2014 |
As a freelance translator in the UK you don't have to register your business.
You do have to register as self-employed for national insurance, but that's all. You also need to tell the taxman what profit you've made and pay tax on it - but you don't have to register, and how you earned the profit (whether through translation or cleaning or juggling) is immaterial. Your business is not a separate legal entity and cannot therefore be registered in any way.
That said, we a... See more As a freelance translator in the UK you don't have to register your business.
You do have to register as self-employed for national insurance, but that's all. You also need to tell the taxman what profit you've made and pay tax on it - but you don't have to register, and how you earned the profit (whether through translation or cleaning or juggling) is immaterial. Your business is not a separate legal entity and cannot therefore be registered in any way.
That said, we are registered as a business, as we operate through a limited company, which seemed a good idea at the time and isn't worth changing now. ▲ Collapse
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Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 00:17
Turkish to English
+ ...
There is no such thing as an officially registered business here in Cyprus. You just need to register with the tax office and, as the VAT threshold is very low, you will almost certainly need to register with the VAT office, too. Once you have a tax number and a VAT number, you are up and running!
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Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 00:17
Turkish to English
+ ...
| Social insurance | Feb 21, 2014 |
Tim Drayton wrote:
There is no such thing as an officially registered business here in Cyprus. You just need to register with the tax office and, as the VAT threshold is very low, you will almost certainly need to register with the VAT office, too. Once you have a tax number and a VAT number, you are up and running!
Oh, and you have to register with the social insurance office, too. I have done all that and have all three numbers.
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 23:17
Spanish to English
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I am registered with the tax and social security authorities as a freelance self-employed ("autonomous") translator. Business is what I do sometimes, not what I am.
To misquote Nº Six in The Prisoner: "I am not a business, I am a free man!"
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