I am Swedish-speaking Finn currently working as a trainee translator for the European Commission (until the end of February).
When my traineeship ends, I am looking to stay in Belgium and work as a freelance translator.
I would be grateful for any information on how to get started, concerning practical things like tax, insurances and pension, as I would be a citizen from another (EU) country doing freelance work in Belgium.
Thank you in advance,
Sofia
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Jacek Sierakowski Belgium Local time: 12:10 Member (2008) English to French + ...
Belgium
Jan 15
Hi Sofia,
I am a freelance translator in Belgium but, being a Belgian citizen, I don't know too much how it works for expats.
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Williamson United Kingdom Local time: 11:10 Flemish to English + ...
My 2 cents
Jan 15
sofiahenrika wrote:
Hi,
I am Swedish-speaking Finn currently working as a trainee translator for the European Commission (until the end of February).
When my traineeship ends, I am looking to stay in Belgium and work as a freelance translator.
I would be grateful for any information on how to get started, concerning practical things like tax, insurances and pension, as I would be a citizen from another (EU) country doing freelance work in Belgium.
Thank you in advance,
Sofia
You have to register in the KBO : Centre Register for enterprises.
Social security contributions about 850 euros (?) per quarter.
A balance is made after three years: if you have paid enough social security contribution, everything is fine. If not, you will be asked to pay the difference between what you should have paid to the social security system and what you have paid.
Advanced tax-contributions every quarter.
If not, you will get a fine of 5% on your total dues end of the year.
With the new government, I don't know the tax-rate. More than a decade ago, it was 10% of your total income, but now it will most certainly have gone up.
This is if you work as a sole trades.
As an sprl-bvba, you need to draw up the articles of association with the help of a notary public who will ask you 800-1000 euros for his services and have them publicised in Le Moniteur belge-Belgisch Staatsblad, which comes at the same rate.
Belgium is NOT the place to be as a freelancer. Too much state-interference.
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Kirsten Bodart Germany Local time: 12:10 Member (2011) Dutch to English + ...
I hope
Jan 15
you know at least some French or Dutch (French being more likely) because all the forms to fill in are in either of those two languages, as well as your tax form. Unless that has changed since about 4 years ago (not confident about that).
So, you need to register as a 'freelance translator' which involves going to UNIZO or its francophone counterpart (organisation of entrepreneurs), they will most likely tell you what you have to get. In all likelihood that is a VAT number as well as ID No. (Handelsregister - Company Register) Which is now essentially the same I believe but you still have two names for it :rolleyes:.
Then you need to register with one of the 'private' social security organisations (Sociale Verzekeringskas) like the RSVZ, but there are more of them. They will make you pay, for the first three years at least, 'voorlopige bijdragen' (preliminary contributions) every quarter (March, June, September and December) which amount to about 500-600 EUR plus no matter what you earn.
Be careful. The hit comes after three-odd years.
First issue: essentially preliminary social contributions are calculated on the income of the year before and your definitive ones on the income from three years ago. So, the first year you are not likely to earn a lot, therefore the next year your contributions will go down, but your wages will go up in all likelihood. So after three years they will come and demand the chunk you did not pay. Which can amount to a few thousand EUR if you're not careful. The fourth year your denfinitive contributions are likely to go down (if you did not earn a lot), but I don't think you can actually do something about it. So you will have to save the chunk you are supposed to pay but can't in order to pay them off in three years time.
Second issue: After three years, the tax office will also lift its exemption on 'Vennootschapsbelasting' of about 30% (company tax) so will demand you pay quarterly contributions to pay your tax and will fine you if you do not. I think could be about 8%, but I am not really sure about that. Less than 10 anyway. You can avoid such a savage amount of tax by founding a BVBA or something of the kind for which you need(ed) about 15,000 EUR in capital to be able to found it. One founds a company by going to a notary who then I think publishes it in Het Staatsblad/Le Moniteur.
Tax is calculated on your gross income. From that amount is deducted any social contributions you have paid, any costs you have made (you can divide a new car for example in 5 chunks, a computer in 2, I think), any business dinners (make that any dinner on a week day), even clothing, train tickets and things like that. Also interest rates on a house, part of your rent, and 'vrij aanvullend pensioen' (free additional pension - additional pension scheme for the self-employed) qualify to be taken off your tax. The trick is to take so much off your tax that you go under the threshold of about 5,000 EUR.
And, to be honest, the pension you get at the end of it, plus the child benefit and maternity leave is zilch. The pension is about 300 EUR a month if you are lucky (apart from any private pension you may have saved, but this amount is after a career of paying for 20 years I believe), maternity leave is 6 weeks on meagre pay and child benefit is less than the 75 EUR for a first child you get as an employee.
On the up side: you do not pay any tax over there if you leave after six months, but I don't think you qualify.
The Belgian government weirdly thinks that all self-employed people are doctors or lawyers who earn shit-loads of cash. At least they have changed the scheme where a self-employed person could not go to the normal doctor unless he/she paid the full amount. Though I have heard from social security organisations who kept the child benefit of people who could not pay their contributions.
However, don't think they chase you if you do not pay... But if I were to become self-employed there ever again, I would get an accountant.
This bias is part of the reason we moved.
Good luck with it.
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