Employee and Freelance Thread poster: Valentina C.
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Valentina C.
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:13
English to Italian
Hi everybody,
my name is Valentina, I'm Italian and I live in UK. Currently I am working as Italian Localisation Games Tester & Translator for a company with a permanent contract. I would like to start to make translations also outside the company as a freelance, but I don't know what I have to do in this situation. I know that if I had not a job I should contact hmrc and I could do everything online to become a self-employed, but I have a permanent contract now, so I don't know wha... See more Hi everybody,
my name is Valentina, I'm Italian and I live in UK. Currently I am working as Italian Localisation Games Tester & Translator for a company with a permanent contract. I would like to start to make translations also outside the company as a freelance, but I don't know what I have to do in this situation. I know that if I had not a job I should contact hmrc and I could do everything online to become a self-employed, but I have a permanent contract now, so I don't know what I have to do in this case. I want to continue working for this company and make some little translations for other clients.
Could someone of you give me more information please?
Thanks,
Valentina ▲ Collapse
| | | | Peter Linton (X) 
Local time: 13:13
Swedish to English
+ ...
Your questions are difficult, and you should really seek professional advice from lawyers and accountants. However, that is expensive, so here are some non-expert suggestions.
As you are already in full-time employment, and presumably paying your taxes, you do not need to tell HMRC that you are doing some self-employed freelance work – though of course you should declare any such income. And you might double-check with HMRC that is correct.
One problem you will have i... See more Your questions are difficult, and you should really seek professional advice from lawyers and accountants. However, that is expensive, so here are some non-expert suggestions.
As you are already in full-time employment, and presumably paying your taxes, you do not need to tell HMRC that you are doing some self-employed freelance work – though of course you should declare any such income. And you might double-check with HMRC that is correct.
One problem you will have is that work is sent out by e-mail, and you need to the able to respond quickly to e-mails even at work. Probably a good idea to tell your manager. And you will need some way of receiving and replying to e-mails – a BlackBerry or similar.
You are presumably doing some translation already, so that is a good start. But remember that in order to be a successful freelance translator you need to set up and run a business. So you need to be a business person as well as a translator. This is a big topic in its own right, but there is plenty of info in ProZ. I would also recommend joining a professional organisation such as the ITI (the Institute of Translation & Interpreting, to which I belong). There you can get plenty more information.
Meanwhile, there is one thing you should do urgently – improve your details on ProZ, because many customers search through that to find translators with specialist skills, and your localisation experience could be useful. Good luck – you will need it. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Valentina C.
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:13
English to Italian
TOPIC STARTER | Freelance number? | May 31, 2011 |
Thank you very much for your advice Peter. I found a lot of information on Proz, but I didn't find a complete answer to my question.
At the moment, what worries me is that I don't have a number that identify me as a translator. I know that if I register as self-employed, the hrmc gives me a number and I can issue the invoice with that number. In Italy a freelance translator has a number of VAT and it's mandatory to write it in the invoice. But in UK a VAT number is not necessary, so... See more Thank you very much for your advice Peter. I found a lot of information on Proz, but I didn't find a complete answer to my question.
At the moment, what worries me is that I don't have a number that identify me as a translator. I know that if I register as self-employed, the hrmc gives me a number and I can issue the invoice with that number. In Italy a freelance translator has a number of VAT and it's mandatory to write it in the invoice. But in UK a VAT number is not necessary, so without this one and without a hrmc number, how can I release the invoice to the client? If I send my application to an agency they will ask me this number?
Fortunately checking emails is not a problem.
My Proz profile is not complete because at the moment I am not ready to start this job: I don't have all the necessary information that I need to feel sure that I am working correctly. I hope to find these information as soon as possible. I will check the website of the Institute of Translation & Interpreting as you suggested me.
Thanks,
Valentina ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I suspect ... | May 31, 2011 |
that you need to tell HMRC that you are self-employed, whether or not you are also employed (and it is perfectly possible to be both employed and self-employed if you do two different jobs).
They will be familiar with this type of situation, and my suggestion is that you ring the HMRC helpline (according to their website their "newly self-employed Helpline" is on 0845 915 4515) and discuss it with them - when I talked to them a while ago they were friendly and helpful.
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Peter Linton (X)
Local time: 13:13
Swedish to English
+ ...
| HMRC or VAT number | Jun 1, 2011 |
La_Vale wrote:
if I register as self-employed, the hrmc gives me a number and I can issue the invoice with that number. In Italy a freelance translator has a number of VAT and it's mandatory
If, in Italy, a VAT number is mandatory, are you sure that they will accept an HMRC self-employed number which has nothing to do with VAT?
One temporary answer is to start by working for UK-based customers and translation agencies who will not require a VAT number.
| | | | Valentina C.
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:13
English to Italian
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you very much for your suggestion, I will contact HRMC, but in the beginning I think I will follow Peter's advice and I will contact some translation agencies.
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