Hi, At 2002-10-21 22:33 -0800, Llewellyn Griffiths wrote: >It probably varies a bit from country to country. In Australia, you can >either incorporate or register a business name.
Here in the Netherlands there are several forms of businesses you can start. In Bob's case it would probably be a one-man's business just like I have. Basically you're still just a single person, but you're now an official business. On some levels there doesn't change much. All your profit is taxed as income and you go broke when you run out of money. I didn't want to burden Bob's 'simple employee mind' with info about more complicated kinds of businesses that he doesn't need yet. >Then you have to register >with the tax office to get a business number [separate government >departments]. The chambers of commerce here in the Netherlands are officially not part of the government, but are a kind of representation of the companies, although they have a state regulated monopoly on and a duty to register companies. It's not the kind of legal construction I would prefer, but at a cost of only $50 a year I tend not to complain. Some time ago I was walking in our local park and decided that it was time to change my entry in the register of the Chamber, so I went into the building. (Strangely enough, wherever I lived in the past, I always live near a chamber of commerce). Anyway, it was very easy to have my entry changed and it only would cost (a little) money if I wanted to have a printed record sent to me by mail. Appearantly my yearly subscription already entitled me to make any changes I wanted to make. In my case: I had registered under my own name W.J. van Ganswijk and also called my business that way, but you're supposed to list all the names 'that you do business under' and I usually call my business 'Chipdir Publishing' for obvious reasons. >If you can't quote a business number on your invoices then >your customers are obliged to withhold 48.5% of the invoiced amount and send >it off to the tax office. That's not as it is here, but I feel what issue you're driving at. >To make it worse, if 80% of your income is derived >from one customer then the tax office will treat you as an employee of the >customer and different tax scales apply. Yes, we have similar rules here. You have to have at least 4 clients and one of them may not be your major income provider. Bob should indeed be careful about this problem (if it also applies in the USA and in his state). In my case it was not really a problem. There are also other criteria to determine if you're running a real business or are just pretending to, to avoid paying taxes and social benefits etc. In my case the fact that my income usually comes from abroad probably helps and that over the years the sources of income changed and that the core of my business is doing something that has little to do with the core business of my income providers (advertisers). But indeed, it's something to keep in mind and I did and I may have even inquired over the phone at the tax service. Strangely enough the fact that you receive most of your income from abroad is already so unusual that whatever else you utter is superfluous. By the way, my major USA advertiser of some years back sent me an USA IRS (inland revenue service) form to make me state that I wasn't working for the company etc. Bit strange to fill in an inland form as a foreigner, so I checked out the site of the IRS and downloaded and printed out the proper form and filled it in and faxed that instead. >I hate to say it but, if Bob is to start his own >business, he should talk to an accountant first. It never hurts. Most lawyers and notaries also don't charge for a first meeting. I think that if anything is unclear he should ask us first, then his chamber of commerce and then ask them to advise more professional aid. But one should always keep in mind that professionals like this live from charging by the hour and not from really helping you. I think it's important to always remember that running a business ie. making money is the most important thing. Once you earn money, all the rest can be bought if need be. As regards hiring an accountant to do your books and taxes. I like to do it myself, so I don't run risks (except for paying too much taxes). I don't run the risk of an accountant cheating me. I don't have to get all the receipts to my accountant and explain them to him. I can handle them myself in fewer minutes I think. Please consider that every post costs at least $1 to handle. I also like to understand business matters down to the core. It's because as a programmer there may be a market but also because understanding the underlying financial and fical principles may enable me to make better business decisions. >A former Prime Minister of Australia once said, >"Life wasn't meant to be easy". Ah, 'not-the-meaning of life'. I liked 'not-the-movie'. ;-) Greetings, Jaap -- Author: Jaap van Ganswijk INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services --------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB CHIPDIR-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
