| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Moving (back) to the UK Thread poster: Mirella Biagi
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Mirella Biagi 
Italië
Local time: 05:31
Member (2013)
uit Frans in Engels
+ ...
W're moving back to the UK after living in Italy for 15 years! I've basically lived all my adult life in Italy and have been registered here as a freelance translator (partita IVA etc) since I started. Despite being British I have absolutely no idea how to set up working as a freelance translator in the UK. I already have a NIN and am registered for self-assessment. And obviously being British I can legally work in the UK. I imagine I need to register as a "Sole Trader"? Most of (practically all... See more W're moving back to the UK after living in Italy for 15 years! I've basically lived all my adult life in Italy and have been registered here as a freelance translator (partita IVA etc) since I started. Despite being British I have absolutely no idea how to set up working as a freelance translator in the UK. I already have a NIN and am registered for self-assessment. And obviously being British I can legally work in the UK. I imagine I need to register as a "Sole Trader"? Most of (practically all really) the agencies and clients I work for are in Italy. Will that present a problem? Can they still pay me into my Italian bank account or would it need to be to my UK account? Do I invoice in euros or in pounds to them if my agreement with them is for a set amount per word in euros? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rachel Waddington
Verenigde Koninkryk
Local time: 04:31
uit Nederlands in Engels
+ ...
Working as a Sole Trader is really straightforward in the UK. You need to register for tax, which you have already done, and fill in your tax return once a year. That's about it. If your turnover is over £90,000 you also need to register for VAT.
I'm in the UK and most of my clients are in Europe. This has never been a problem. I invoice them in euros and my bank converts it into sterling.
I don't really know whether you are better getting paid into your UK or Italian... See more Working as a Sole Trader is really straightforward in the UK. You need to register for tax, which you have already done, and fill in your tax return once a year. That's about it. If your turnover is over £90,000 you also need to register for VAT.
I'm in the UK and most of my clients are in Europe. This has never been a problem. I invoice them in euros and my bank converts it into sterling.
I don't really know whether you are better getting paid into your UK or Italian bank account, but someone else is bound to know more about that than I do. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnië en Herzegowina
Local time: 05:31
Member (2009)
uit Engels in Kroaties
+ ...
How will she be paying taxes in the UK if she is paid into Italian bank account, that makes very little sense?
UK bank account = UK taxes, that’s the only way.
[Edited at 2025-01-20 09:29 GMT]
| | | | | Open a Wise account | Jan 20 |
I did what you are doing 10 years ago, and initially had clients pay into my UK account but found that the transfer fees were exorbitant. I now have a Wise multi-currency account (https://wise.com/gb/account/ ), which means that clients pay into a Euro account (in Belgium), and I can withdraw the same funds directly in Sterling and pay them into my UK account for a much lower fee.
Another thing ... See more I did what you are doing 10 years ago, and initially had clients pay into my UK account but found that the transfer fees were exorbitant. I now have a Wise multi-currency account (https://wise.com/gb/account/ ), which means that clients pay into a Euro account (in Belgium), and I can withdraw the same funds directly in Sterling and pay them into my UK account for a much lower fee.
Another thing to be aware of is that despite being financially active in Italy, you will arrive in the UK with no credit history, and you will consequently have no credit score for three years! This will make it impossible to get any kind of credit during that period.
All the best!
[Edited at 2025-01-20 09:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Emily Scott
Verenigde Koninkryk
Local time: 04:31
Member (2018)
uit Frans in Engels
+ ...
Mirella Biagi wrote: Do I invoice in euros or in pounds to them if my agreement with them is for a set amount per word in euros?
I would say that if you have agreed with certain clients to be paid in EUR, then continue to be paid into your Italian account, and if you have any GBP-paying customers, asking them to pay into your UK account. This is what I do - my GBP customers pay into my UK bank account and my EUR/USD customers pay into my EUR/USD Wise accounts (which I then transfer into my UK account).
Edit: to second what Glyn said, Wise has much better conversion rates compared to asking for EUR to be paid into a UK account.
[Edited at 2025-01-20 10:19 GMT]
| | | | Rachel Waddington
Verenigde Koninkryk
Local time: 04:31
uit Nederlands in Engels
+ ...
Lingua 5B wrote:
How will she be paying taxes in the UK if she is paid into Italian bank account, that makes very little sense?
UK bank account = UK taxes, that’s the only way.
[Edited at 2025-01-20 09:29 GMT]
You can still declare money paid into a foreign account for tax in the UK.
I'd advise getting in touch with HMRC with this type of queries though as strangers on the internet don't always know what they are talking about: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/self-assessment
| | | | Mirella Biagi
Italië
Local time: 05:31
Member (2013)
uit Frans in Engels
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Rachel Waddington wrote:
Working as a Sole Trader is really straightforward in the UK. You need to register for tax, which you have already done, and fill in your tax return once a year. That's about it. If your turnover is over £90,000 you also need to register for VAT.
I'm in the UK and most of my clients are in Europe. This has never been a problem. I invoice them in euros and my bank converts it into sterling.
I don't really know whether you are better getting paid into your UK or Italian bank account, but someone else is bound to know more about that than I do.
Thanks Rachel! It all just seems too simple when you're used to the Italian system hahaha. So when you do your tax returns how do you do the conversion? Using the exchange rate at time of invoicing or what is actually received in your account in sterling? Also, do you know where I could find an example of a UK invoice? In Italy it has to have certain legal notes written on it
| | | | Mirella Biagi
Italië
Local time: 05:31
Member (2013)
uit Frans in Engels
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Glyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:
I did what you are doing 10 years ago, and initially had clients pay into my UK account but found that the transfer fees were exorbitant. I now have a Wise multi-currency account ( https://wise.com/gb/account/ ), which means that clients pay into a Euro account (in Belgium), and I can withdraw the same funds directly in Sterling and pay them into my UK account for a much lower fee.
Another thing to be aware of is that despite being financially active in Italy, you will arrive in the UK with no credit history, and you will consequently have no credit score for three years! This will make it impossible to get any kind of credit during that period.
All the best! [Edited at 2025-01-20 09:56 GMT]
Thanks Glyn! I don't think the credit history will be a problem thankfully as we shouldn't need any kind of credit. I guess you moved pre-brexit? Any other advice you think I might need?
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Mirella Biagi
Italië
Local time: 05:31
Member (2013)
uit Frans in Engels
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Rachel Waddington wrote:
Lingua 5B wrote:
How will she be paying taxes in the UK if she is paid into Italian bank account, that makes very little sense?
UK bank account = UK taxes, that’s the only way.
[Edited at 2025-01-20 09:29 GMT]
You can still declare money paid into a foreign account for tax in the UK.
I'd advise getting in touch with HMRC with this type of queries though as strangers on the internet don't always know what they are talking about: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/self-assessment
Yes I will def be contacting HMRC when I get there but as I will have to get the ball rolling rather quickly (I'm only planning on taking a 2-week "holiday" between the two tax systems) I am trying to get my head around as many aspects as possible before I get there.
| | | | Zea_Mays
Italië
Local time: 05:31
uit Engels in Duits
+ ...
| @Tom, can you help here? | Jan 20 |
"Tom in London" here on the forums has also moved back to the UK from Italy, if I remember correctly. So maybe he could really help you here.
| | | | Dan Lucas
Verenigde Koninkryk
Local time: 04:31
Member (2014)
uit Japannees in Engels
| Credit may involve more than you think | Jan 20 |
Mirella Biagi wrote:
I don't think the credit history will be a problem thankfully as we shouldn't need any kind of credit. I guess you moved pre-brexit? Any other advice you think I might need?
Credit takes many forms. When I moved back to the UK in 2013 I couldn't even get a smartphone/mobile phone plan on contract. Things might have changed, and in that specific instance you could use a pay-as-you-go SIM, particularly if you already have the phone itself.
Nevertheless, the point is that I had never considered such matters because I associated "credit" solely with plastic cards and loans, which I had never used. That turned out to be far too narrow a definition.
Another example was that the company with which I insured my car would not allow me to pay on a monthly basis because effectively that was a loan as well. I had to pay the whole thing upfront.
Regards,
Dan
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Lingua 5B wrote:
How will she be paying taxes in the UK if she is paid into Italian bank account, that makes very little sense?
UK bank account = UK taxes, that’s the only way.
Just to confirm this is utter piffle. I was s/e for years receiving € payments into a Fr bank a/c, to make it easier for clients. If you xfer larger amounts to £ as and when you need them, you should save on bank charges. HMRC give you an exchange rate to use for the tax return.
You should, IIRC, notify HMRC within 3 months of starting to work as self-employed. There's a different class of NI for the S/E, including voluntary contributions so the year counts towards your pension if you so choose. When you start your self-assessment form, tick the box to say you have income from self employment, and the appropriate pages are added to your return. The admin for being s/e, especially if you're not VAT registered, is very light here compared to elsewhere.
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Tom in London
Verenigde Koninkryk
Local time: 04:31
Member (2008)
uit Italiaans in Engels
Zea_Mays wrote:
"Tom in London" here on the forums has also moved back to the UK from Italy, if I remember correctly. So maybe he could really help you here.
I came back to the UK from Italy when the brilliant architectural career I had carved out for myself, which was based on a series of assumptions about living in Italy, suddenly went pear-shaped.
I didn't want to leave Italy but on the other hand, there are things about being Italy, whilst not being Italian, that make life very difficult. And the bureaucracy was just getting worse and worse.
So here I am. In London NW. Ask away.
The first thing you will notice is that unlike in Italy, people working in the public services in the UK will help you *even if your nephew doesn't work there*. The HMRC website is designed to do that and will answer almost any question, in plain English.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs
[Edited at 2025-01-20 14:29 GMT]
[Edited at 2025-01-20 15:55 GMT]
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Just a word of advice. I came back to Portugal in 2015 after living in Belgium for 30 years. Although I visited very often because my children had stayed in Lisbon (I gave them the choice of staying with my mother or leaving as my eldest was reading law at university), when I returned for good, I had some difficulty readapting, it's not as easy as it might seem at first glance and I moved from rainy Brussels to sunny Lisbon (not today as it hasn't stopped raining yet...). Good luck!
| | | | Ian Mansbridge
Verenigde Koninkryk
Local time: 04:31
Member (2012)
uit Italiaans in Engels
+ ...
So when you do your tax returns how do you do the conversion? Using the exchange rate at time of invoicing or what is actually received in your account in sterling? Also, do you know where I could find an example of a UK invoice? In Italy it has to have certain legal notes written on it
I use the exchange rate on the day the payment arrives, and I know another couple of colleagues who do the same. I don't think there is necessarily a "right" way to do it, so long as you are consistent and can explain your working if HMRC ever audit your accounts (very unlikely).
Here is the information you need to include on an invoice: https://www.gov.uk/invoicing-and-taking-payment-from-customers/invoices-what-they-must-include
The format and wording is entirely up to you (mine are bilingual Italian/English and have a note about not being required to charge VAT, as it is something numerous Italian clients pester me about!)
In bocca al lupo
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