| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | client asks me for my VAT number Thread poster: MariusV
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| Being VAT registered as a small company makes life easier here | Dec 5, 2013 |
Once you are VAT registered in Denmark, there are simple, cut-and dried rules for small traders. If you have no employees and no stocks of raw materials or finished goods, it is comparatively simple to keep your invoices and accounts in order and make returns. Certain fairly well-defined expenses are tax deductible, the rest are not, and you know where you are. (or at least my accountant does...)
Otherwise the tax authorities really can be a pain, but this is not the place to discus... See more Once you are VAT registered in Denmark, there are simple, cut-and dried rules for small traders. If you have no employees and no stocks of raw materials or finished goods, it is comparatively simple to keep your invoices and accounts in order and make returns. Certain fairly well-defined expenses are tax deductible, the rest are not, and you know where you are. (or at least my accountant does...)
Otherwise the tax authorities really can be a pain, but this is not the place to discuss that.
All the same, if even the Danish tax authorities can go along with a simple system, I would have thought HMRC could work out something too.
As others have mentioned, just a VIES-recognisable number would keep most of us quiet... ▲ Collapse
| | | | KKastenhuber 
Austria
Local time: 05:26
Russian to German
+ ...
| Spain has a special regulation for UK taxpayers | Dec 5, 2013 |
I've been told that Spain has a special regulation for UK citizens. Spanish companies don't have to give their UK-based service providers' VAT numbers when doing their tax declarations, so I suppose that's why Tom and Neil have never had any problems. However, for the rest of us they do have to provide this number in order to be able to set the invoices off against tax liability, which means that we do have to provide a VAT number so that Spanish companies will work with us.
The si... See more I've been told that Spain has a special regulation for UK citizens. Spanish companies don't have to give their UK-based service providers' VAT numbers when doing their tax declarations, so I suppose that's why Tom and Neil have never had any problems. However, for the rest of us they do have to provide this number in order to be able to set the invoices off against tax liability, which means that we do have to provide a VAT number so that Spanish companies will work with us.
The situation is silly, really, but there might be workarounds. I recently heard that in Austria you can apply for a VAT number so you're not excluded from working with companies that need it, but as long as you stay under the threshold, you're not required to charge or pay VAT yourself. I think you should talk to a tax consultant to find out whether or not there's such a possibility in your country, too.
(I hope I'm making sense here, I don't have a lot of experience dealing with anything tax related, so I'm aware I might not be expressing myself correctly.)
Tom in London wrote:
Not so. In accordance with the law in the EU Member State in which I am a taxpayer (the UK) I am not required to register for VAT unless/until my turnover reaches the VAT threshold.
My invoices simply state "VAT not applicable".
I am always paid. Nobody in any other EU Member State, including Spain, ever queries that statement. I believe there is a problem with some accountants in Spain who do not understand European law. However their incomprehension is not my concern, since I am not resident in Spain.
The same would apply to anyone in any EU Member State where there is no automatic obligation to register for VAT.
[Edited at 2013-12-04 13:27 GMT]
Neil Coffey wrote:
Same here, and various European agencies, from France and Spain included, have managed to pay me without problems-- or occasionally have queried, but then upon looking into the situation, have been able to pay me. So it does seem that it may be a question of how au fait individual accountants are with the fine details of the VAT regulations (which I admit seem needlessly overcomplicated-- the people who worked them out seem to be the kind of people who also work out train fares and mobile phone tariffs...).
[Edited at 2013-12-05 10:45 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:26
Member (2008)
Italian to English
UK Taxpayers are required to comply with UK tax law. Attempting to also comply with the tax laws of other countries would be irrelevant and possibly illegal.
| | | | 2GT
Italy
Local time: 05:26
English to Italian
+ ...
All EU countries should apply EU directives for all their taxpayers doing business in EU.
Any other practice would be possibly unfair or illegal.
Maybe some countries are not subject to EU?
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KKastenhuber
Austria
Local time: 05:26
Russian to German
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
UK Taxpayers are required to comply with UK tax law. Attempting to also comply with the tax laws of other countries would be irrelevant and possibly illegal.
I know, and so are Austrian taxpayers required to comply with Austrian law, and Spanish taxpayers are required to comply with Spanish law. The situation arises because the different systems are incompatible, so if both parties stick to their respecitve rights and duties, the system basically prevents them from ever working together. I'm not saying you or anyone else should be doing anything in a different way, I was merely pointing out that you might not have experienced problems, because the special regulation for UK taxpayers that I was talking about earlier makes it so that there simply aren't any for you guys.
The Spanish agency that explained the issue to me has worked with me on one occasion despite the fact that I'm not VAT registered. The amount they pay me ends up not being deductible for them, so I think they have a point in preferring VAT registered translators, even though I think it's a shame that the legislation basically keeps me from gaining clients in what should be one of my main target countries. I also believe that Spanish agencies/accountants are well aware of the fact that there are thresholds below which VAT registration isn't necessary in other countries, but since Spanish law requires them to provide their freelancers' VAT numbers when doing their taxes, they can't really decide to ignore it, can they?
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