Freelance

sNarah

Very quick question, I've been asked to do a few jobs freelance.
Before I commit, I wanna make sure I'm not breaking any laws!

I've been told to set up as a sole trader.
Does that seem right?

I presume having contracts ready is needed as well?
Plus agreed fares before hand?

Is there anything I need to know tax wise?

Kinetic^

sNarah wrote: »

I've been told to set up as a sole trader.
Does that seem right?

Yes. Fill out this form and send to the revenue, should take about 2 weeks at most. I wouldn't worry about it not being ready in time. No const for this.

You can also register a business name if you like, information here. ie. "sNarah Photography". €20 once off charge for this.

sNarah wrote: »

I presume having contracts ready is needed as well?
Plus agreed fares before hand?

Most definitely yes to the later and possibly the first, I'd consult with peers within the industry to see how they manage it.

sNarah wrote: »

Is there anything I need to know tax wise?

Fill out the form from the revenue and possibly contact an accountant for an initial consultation, which are 99% of the time free. I can PM you my own's contact details if you like, he's based in Dublin.

sNarah

Brilliant, thanks a mill for that.
Was asking a few other people and sole trader seems to be the way forward.
Also thanks for the suggestion, but will try to find someone in the locality, makes it a tad easier!

Eoin

What sort of freelance work is it? You might not need a contract, but if it is photography you might need to spell out the copyright/ownership of any photos you take. A lot of people are surprised that they don't own the rights to the photos that they have commissioned.

sNarah

eoin wrote: »

What sort of freelance work is it? You might not need a contract, but if it is photography you might need to spell out the copyright/ownership of any photos you take. A lot of people are surprised that they don't own the rights to the photos that they have commissioned.

Nope - a few several things, with the most important issues thing being content, of which copyright (I think?) does not belong to me but to the company (or whatever) it's written for, I would like to include a clause though that the specific content provided can only be used for the location it was ordered for and not reproduced, but I'll have to look into the finer details of that as I'm not sure where I stand on that.

Translations as well, to which the same applies (copyright lies with original content?).

Other assignments I do for one company are more data-entry based, but usually I get a confidentially clause from them, so the contract usually comes from them.

Newsite

Kinetic^ wrote: »

Yes. Fill out this form and send to the revenue, should take about 2 weeks at most. I wouldn't worry about it not being ready in time. No const for this.

You can also register a business name if you like, information here. ie. "sNarah Photography". €20 once off charge for this.



Most definitely yes to the later and possibly the first, I'd consult with peers within the industry to see how they manage it.



Fill out the form from the revenue and possibly contact an accountant for an initial consultation, which are 99% of the time free. I can PM you my own's contact details if you like, he's based in Dublin.

Quick one for you Kinetic - do you have to register for tax with that form before you accept payment for freelance work, or can you accept payment and then register afterwards...or does it matter?

Newsite

Just bumping this one. Do I need to register as a sole trader before accepting any payment for freelance work...or can I do this subsequent to accepting payment? Mainly I ask as I don't know yet if this will be a regular thing for me (I may go for a job instead).

Eoin

I imagine you can register afterwards. Once you don't charge VAT, I don't think that there would be any sort of information that you would need to provide on your invoice, other than your name and address.

Lorelei

if you are going to be a sole trader then you dont have to register at all, unless you are going to operate under a name other than your own
e.g. John Smith Photography no need to register
Celtic Ireland Photography then you (John Smith) would register with the CRO as John Smith t/a Celtic Ireland Photography.

All you need to do is to inform the Revenue that you are going to operate a business. Can be done by phone.

Registering for VAT as you will probably be paying and charging VAT at 21% no advantage in registering.

The revenue publish some excellent guides e.g. VAT for Small Businesses go to their web site and look at what they have on offer.
Good luck