Tax situation for people working freelance

Judee

I have a full time job, but I will be doing some freelance translation work. I was at the tax office today, and the lady wasn't very helpful, didn't bother explaining anything to me, just gave me a tax registration form to fill in.
I did some googeling and it seems I don't need to register for VAT as the freelance work will be only occassional and not my main income.
Is anybody in the same situation? If so can you explain what I need to do with regards to taxes?

dermot_sheehan

Might have better luck in work/employment.

As a self employed person myself i know you file a tax return every october, and if above vat threshold a vat return every two months. You have to keep records and accounts of payments and expenditures.

Diairist

howdy OP Judee - I expect you'll be inundated with answers beginning with 'well, it depends...' I also expect you will find it annoying. So much does in fact depend on your individual situation. At least at the start (I imagine) it'll be too much hassle if you register for VAT. From the website http://www.revenue.ie/ you will see in 'for BUSINESSES':

Who must register for VAT?
You must register for VAT if you are a taxable person and your annual turnover (i.e. the amount of your receipts excluding VAT) exceeds or is likely to exceed the following annual limits

• €70,000 for businesses which supply goods (where not less than 90% of the annual turnover is from the supply of goods);
• €35,000 for other businesses, including those supplying services.

Businesses whose annual turnover is below these thresholds are not required to register for VAT (but may elect to do so).

1stimpressions

Diairist wrote: »

howdy OP Judee - I expect you'll be inundated with answers beginning with 'well, it depends...' I also expect you will find it annoying. So much does in fact depend on your individual situation. At least at the start (I imagine) it'll be too much hassle if you register for VAT. From the website http://www.revenue.ie/ you will see in 'for BUSINESSES':

Who must register for VAT?
You must register for VAT if you are a taxable person and your annual turnover (i.e. the amount of your receipts excluding VAT) exceeds or is likely to exceed the following annual limits

• €70,000 for businesses which supply goods (where not less than 90% of the annual turnover is from the supply of goods);
• €35,000 for other businesses, including those supplying services.

Businesses whose annual turnover is below these thresholds are not required to register for VAT (but may elect to do so).

How do you pay tax under the threshold?

Eoin

1stimpressions wrote: »

How do you pay tax under the threshold?

You do it through your tax returns, which can be done online. There should be a section where you declare extra earnings, and that's you done (and pay up of course).

Also, check the services section on adverts.ie - some very helpful people there who can help you with your tax stuff.