Taxes & business banking for the self-employed

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Self-employment

Freelancers - Do you need a tax advisor?

Last updated on Aug 24, 2020

Kate Bailey

Freelance Editor

Mar 25, 2019

How good is your German, really?

Ok. Maybe, just maybe, you can get away with filling in your forms by yourself and getting yourself set up. However, this is about more than that. The Finanzamt will often be sending you lengthy letters and the question is: could you know and respond to everything effectively? There’s nothing worse than missing important deadlines simply because you did not understand the letter. An advisor simply contacts you with what they need from you and by when - super handy!

von-der-steuer-absetzen

Do you need extra time to report to the Finanzamt ?

Well, as you’ll know from our previous articles on the blog ( Freelancers - Understanding the German Tax Year ) - your tax should be ready for submission… some weeks ago! Now, here is one fantastic benefit to having a tax advisor - you would have until the end of the year to have it in. So now could really be the time to hand it over. Usually, you will give your advisor the equivalent to a power-of-attorney meaning they will take on all of the communication with the Finanzamt and give them an indication as to when the returns will be ready. Of course, this kind of situation is not ideal, but at least there is a solution… and of course, it would never happen again, right?!

No messing about...

The reality of freelancer life in Germany is that you can not afford to take chances when it comes to taxes. Remember, just check those ToyTown forums for all the horror stories. The question is not ‘should I make sure all my taxes are in order?’ it should be ‘’Can I reasonably keep them in order myself or do I need a tax advisor?’’. Be realistic, take into account tools like Kontist, Debitoor and FastBill, your own time, the frequency of your taxes and everything we have discussed above - and make the call! Just not too late, of course.

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Self-employment

Freelancers - What Hourly Rate Should You Charge?

There are a lot of assumptions about Freelancers and self-employed people. Some are true - yes the freedom to make the schedule and ‘’choose’’ your clients is great. However, unlike a standard 9 to 5 job where your role is clear and defined, where the organisation you work for scales your salary and aligns it closely with specific experience and also - provides a pathway to earn more, freelancers are left to structure their income themselves as well. The assumption is - this is great, you can really charge what you are worth! However, clients tend to assume freelancers have a ‘’discounted rate’’ or that their direct rate entitles them to harsh negotiations. Quite simply, this is not the case. For freelancers, in this case, it is very important to know how much you should charge, and why - so you can negotiate your worth. In this article, we are going to take a look at what hourly rate you should be charging.

Kate Bailey

Freelance Editor