Startende freelancer Thread poster: Izabela Czartoryska
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Beste collegas
I apologize for writing here in English but my Dutch is very bad and I don't know where else to ask... (Please direct me elsewhere ifd you know a more suitable place for my question).
I just moved to Holland (ha! my heart brought me here and the rest of me got defeated having nothing to say any more ). I plan to continue my freelancing job in my language pairs but living now in your country ... See more Beste collegas
I apologize for writing here in English but my Dutch is very bad and I don't know where else to ask... (Please direct me elsewhere ifd you know a more suitable place for my question).
I just moved to Holland (ha! my heart brought me here and the rest of me got defeated having nothing to say any more ). I plan to continue my freelancing job in my language pairs but living now in your country and so I need to register myself in de Belastingdiens and I'd like to ask you about the legal form that is best for a person who is just starting on the market here. So far I understood from a few Dutch friends (who are not freelancers) that there are options like onderneming - 'eenmanszaak' or 'zzp', and I heard there are 4 types of 'zzp' but I have no clue about the differences between them. My question is - what form do most of you use and what Would you advice to a 'beginner' (however I will continue to work with my current clients but oficially I am just beginning because of moving to a new country).
Dank je vel for any helpful thoughts/advices.
Iza ▲ Collapse
| | | | Edward Vreeburg 
Netherlands
Local time: 07:50
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
Hi Iza,
You cannot chose to be a ZZP'er probably, see
http://www.belastingdienst.nl/zakelijk/onderneming_starten_stoppen.html
select starterspakket - downloaden handboek ondernemen...
If you are working by yourself, on your own, eenmanszaak is probably the cheapest way to start.... See more Hi Iza,
You cannot chose to be a ZZP'er probably, see
http://www.belastingdienst.nl/zakelijk/onderneming_starten_stoppen.html
select starterspakket - downloaden handboek ondernemen...
If you are working by yourself, on your own, eenmanszaak is probably the cheapest way to start. More details can be found on www.belastingdienst.nl and www.kvk.nl
all in Dutch, but depending on where you live, you could just go there and talk to a consultant of the KvK....
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Ed
[Edited at 2009-04-20 13:05 GMT]
[Edited at 2009-04-20 13:05 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Margreet Logmans (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 07:50
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Kamer van Koophandel & Belastingdienst | Apr 21, 2009 |
Hi Izabela,
welcome to the Netherlands!
I'm not an expert on your situation, but I thought I'd just write down some things I can think of that may be of interest to you.
I assume you don't have Dutch nationality yet, which may complicate matters more. I don't know if you can even start a business without a Burger Service Number. You should ask an Immigration expert about this.
You should at least talk to the Kamer van Koophandel (Chamber of Com... See more Hi Izabela,
welcome to the Netherlands!
I'm not an expert on your situation, but I thought I'd just write down some things I can think of that may be of interest to you.
I assume you don't have Dutch nationality yet, which may complicate matters more. I don't know if you can even start a business without a Burger Service Number. You should ask an Immigration expert about this.
You should at least talk to the Kamer van Koophandel (Chamber of Commerce) in your region, because you must be registered there anyway. That is a paid registration, I don't know how much it costs in your region. The KvK is organised regionally. They do have a section in English on their national site: http://www.kvk.nl/english
You should also contact the Belastingdienst, in order to obtain a BTW (VAT) number. This is derived from your Burger Service Nummer, but you may be able to get a preliminary VAT number if you don't have a BSN yet. They also have a section in English on their site. www.belastingdienst.nl/english
Me, I am a zzp'er (zelfstandige zonder personeel- independent worker without employees). As a translator, you perform services - diensten. So you are a 'dienstverlener'. As for taxes, if you are registered here, in other words, you live in the Netherlands officially, you are supposed to pay your taxes here.
Whatever form your business takes, you will need to charge (and keep an administration of) VAT for customers within the Netherlands.
As long as you haven't sorted out what your situation is exactly, I recommend saving as much money as you can, until you know exactly how much tax you are supposed to pay. VAT for services is 19%; you have to pay this initially, but will probably retrieve most of it. For income tax (inkomstenbelasting/IB) you would be on the safe side if you use 40% as the basis of your calculations. In practice it will probably be closer to 30% or even less, but you don't want to start your business here with tax troubles...
Keep a good administration of whatever you do, businesswise. If anything goes wrong, it is important to show that you were, to the best of your knowledge, 'acting in good faith'. Don't worry too much, though. Just keep copies of receipts and invoices, even in a shoebox is alright, as long as you keep them and don't throw them away. Once you know what is expected of your administration under the Dutch system, you can archive them where they belong.
After some research, you will probably begin to have some idea of how it all works. At that point, I would indeed recommend talking to a consultant with the KvK and/or an independent tax consultant. Calling the Belastingdienst can be time-consuming and confusing - you need to have someone who is willing to take some time to sit down with you and go through it all thoroughly.
Good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | KVK also does belastingnummer | Apr 21, 2009 |
Margreet Logmans wrote: You should at least talk to the Kamer van Koophandel (Chamber of Commerce) in your region, because you must be registered there anyway. That is a paid registration, I don't know how much it costs in your region. The KvK is organised regionally. They do have a section in English on their national site: http://www.kvk.nl/english You should also contact the Belastingdienst, in order to obtain a BTW (VAT) number.
I registered with the KVK last year and they now have a new system that also completes your registration with the belastingdienst in one go so you don't have to register anywhere else. I don't know if this also works for foreigners, but it took me only ten minutes in the office to get everything going. Not as easy as in the UK (one phone call) but still not bad.
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Margreet Logmans (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 07:50
English to Dutch
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| That's an improvement! | Apr 21, 2009 |
Wilmer Brouwer wrote:
I registered with the KVK last year and they now have a new system that also completes your registration with the belastingdienst in one go so you don't have to register anywhere else. I don't know if this also works for foreigners, but it took me only ten minutes in the office to get everything going. Not as easy as in the UK (one phone call) but still not bad.
I remember when I registered a couple of years ago, the KvK representative told me I needed a VAT-number to register and the Belastingdienst told me I needed a registration with the KvK to get a VAT-number....
So this new situation is definitely an improvement!
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Margreet Logmans wrote: Wilmer Brouwer wrote:
I registered with the KVK last year and they now have a new system that also completes your registration with the belastingdienst in one go so you don't have to register anywhere else. I don't know if this also works for foreigners, but it took me only ten minutes in the office to get everything going. Not as easy as in the UK (one phone call) but still not bad. I remember when I registered a couple of years ago, the KvK representative told me I needed a VAT-number to register and the Belastingdienst told me I needed a registration with the KvK to get a VAT-number.... So this new situation is definitely an improvement!
They told me it was a new thing they were working on so it may not be available everywhere, but I thought it was great, I left with my temporary btw-nummer (which became my final btw-nummer) withouth having to do anything else.
| | | | Chris Hopley
Netherlands
Local time: 07:50
German to English
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| get help from a professional bookkeeper/accountant | Apr 22, 2009 |
Margreet Logmans wrote:
I assume you don't have Dutch nationality yet, which may complicate matters more. I don't know if you can even start a business without a Burger Service Number. You should ask an Immigration expert about this.
Assuming that Izabela has the Polish nationality, then she's not really 'immigrating', but is making use of her right as an EU citizen to freedom of movement under the Treaty of Rome. And anyone registering for the first time with their local authority is given a BSN if they haven't got one already. Phew!
Izabela, my advice would be to find yourself an accountant or bookkeeper (boekhouder or administratiekantoor) to help you set things up properly. Try asking in the local Polish community or in your/your partner's own network if anyone can recommend you one. A good accountant pays for himself!
| | | | | Registration Kamer not for freelancers | Apr 24, 2009 |
Margreet Logmans wrote:
You should at least talk to the Kamer van Koophandel (Chamber of Commerce) in your region, because you must be registered there anyway.
?
Why should you as a freelancer? Waar staat dit eigenlijk?
[Edited at 2009-04-24 08:36 GMT]
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Margreet Logmans (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 07:50
English to Dutch
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| Izabela Czartoryska
Sweden
Local time: 07:50
English to Polish
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TOPIC STARTER SITE LOCALIZER
Thank you very much to everyone for your helpful information. I'm sorry to respond so late, upon moving to a new place I have to wait for internet installation for 4 weeks... (2 and a half to go). So I don't have access too often these days.
I didn't realize that I have to register also with KvK and even less that they can also do all the registration with the belastingdienst on my behalf. In this situation I'm going to pay them a visit. I greatly appreciate all your comments and I'... See more Thank you very much to everyone for your helpful information. I'm sorry to respond so late, upon moving to a new place I have to wait for internet installation for 4 weeks... (2 and a half to go). So I don't have access too often these days.
I didn't realize that I have to register also with KvK and even less that they can also do all the registration with the belastingdienst on my behalf. In this situation I'm going to pay them a visit. I greatly appreciate all your comments and I'm sorry to write so short only now. Thanks a lot again! ▲ Collapse
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