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Freelance Work
Work - I don't understand. No luck with finding a job by applying for many months, I have looked into options like freelancing or starting a 1 man company (can be easier to get work through a company, but thats the next stage). I have read all the information I have found in english and it seems really hard to set anything up.
To register a company you need many thousands in the bank, so that is not an option to me.
To start as a freelancer, you need to register and starting paying in quarterly taxes or fees - regardless of whether you earn anything at all.
I just want to give it a try - either a freelance article here or an odd blog post there, but maybe I can net a 100 or or 2O to begin with and I'm not ready to start paying fixed amount anything to the state.
So how does one begin? In other countries you dont start paying taxes or fees until you reach a threshold of a certain income and my understanding it thatit is reversed here. It seems set up to be extremely difficult for people to try to earn an honest living.
There must be some way I can begin with very small jobs to build my reputation without owing things to the state - can anyone share any information or advice? I am really perplexed by the system but need to get things moving on the earning attempt.
Many many thanks.
I managed to go through this process recently, using the link below. Of course, Google translate helps, as does a friend who reads better Dutch than I do!
If you expect your income to be less than €1200 or so per year AND you already have a "main/full-time" job, you only have to pay about €75 quarterly, in addition to an €80 or so start-up fee. Otherwise, you are right, you have to pay a hefty sum quarterly.
Don't give up on your job search yet. It took me nearly a year to land my first one (with an agency) but now I am happily employed. Good luck!
https://www.zenito.be/nl/formulier/starters-gps?gclid=COq27cH7-sQCFWoJww...
"It seems set up to be extremely difficult for people to try to earn an honest living"
Absolutely - that's why the country is in such a mess. Depends on what study you look at, and who wrote it, but it's generally accepted that the black (or shadow) economy accounts for between 12-18% of GDP in Belgium.
Not difficult at all. For small sums, you just go through a billing agency like Smartbe.be. That will get you started.
Once you get going and start earning over a certain threshold regularly (i.e. cover the freelancer social security comfortably), then set yourself up as a proper freelancer, or if things start going really well as a company.
http://www.1819.be will help and advise for Brussels. There are other places to get advice too.
Smart deal mainly with "artistic" contracts, so that should cover writing jobs.
They issue an invoice with the correct VAT on, so nothing to stop them issuing an invoice to the UK or US.
They have people who talk you through things and help you out.
