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Showing results for tags 'freelance'.
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Hi everyone, I plan to start tutoringin English at Berlitz in a very limited way ( I know...I know ) and need to apply for an additional German tax number, I believe as a Freelancer. I would like to ask if anyone has registered their application through getsorted.de.? https://www.getsorted.de/ Here's the relevant form I would need: https://app.getsorted.de/app/tax-registration/business-info Or would it be better to register via another portal? I am in NRW: Thank you.
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Job Offers from Foreign Employers (in EU) Offering Full Time (but Freelance!)
Olea posted a topic in Legal
Would appreciate some thoughts on my current working situation and attempts to get on the right side of the law (and perhaps ahead in my field of work...). The back story: I'm married to an EU citizen and therefore have longterm residency in Germany and can work throughout the EU. After graduation I was offered a full-time job with a consulting company based in a different country within the EU. They offered full-time remote possibilities (as essentially we're knowledge workers and just need a computer and internet to function in our work duties). I asked how it would work to be a full-time employee -- how would they pay my social security, pension, etc.? They didn't really know, but after I laid out how much I would be required to pay into pension, social security etc. in Germany, they offered a higher salary for me to be able to pay my contributions here. I found out (through my own research, and no help from HR) that the proper way essentially requires you (or rather, a Steuerberater) to request a company number from the Arbeitsamt, get a login for an online system where you submit payroll receipts, etc, and basically collect money from your foreign employer in order to pay their share of contributions here. While I was fine to do these admin things (even though it wasn't technically my job), I got so much pushback from people at AOK and other institutions who basically refused to deal with me and instead wanted me to deal with a Steuerberater as an intermediary. When I couldn't find one (let alone get my company to pay for one), and dealt with other contractual issues, I decided to step down to part time, take on other clients, and register as a freelancer in order to continue working with the company. It was more a precarity move, because at this point I was seriously frustrated with all the wasted time I had spent trying to work full time for them in a legal way. Currently: In my search for new clients as a freelancer, and now that I'm working my way up and gaining more experience, I've been approached by two of my company's competitors offering me work. However, they both want to offer me full-time roles on a freelance contract. I flagged the difficulties of this arrangement (because of Scheinselbstaendigkeit), and noted that I could not work for one company full-time as a freelancer, but they insist offering "B2B" contracts have worked for them in the past with other employees (after pressing them on how this works for some people, I realized it has a lot to do with individual circumstances... some people are students, some work one day a week elsewhere, some are based in EU countries where they don't really care if the freelancing income comes from one source... etc.). At the same time, they also don't want me to work with their competitors (because it's an industry that sometimes you're partnered with other orgs, and sometimes you're competing against them). I'm frustrated because I don't see any way forward in this industry, if no one is willing to offer me a full-time work the "right" way, but also don't want me to be a true freelancer working with multiple clients because it would mean taking contracts from their competitors sometimes. The question: How on earth do people working for employers based outside of Germany actually deal? Do they get their companies to hire EoRs (Employers of Record) and Steuerberaters on their behalf? If so, that rules out working for any employers based in EU countries with lower costs of living and lower salaries (my situation). Do they just "freelance" for one client and hope they don't get caught? What is with all of these companies acting like this is totally legal and above board, when it absolutely screws the employee (no pension contributions, no sick leave or care insurance or guarantees to vacation time, etc.). As remote work is becoming increasingly the norm increasingly after the pandemic, and technically freedom of movement should apply in this case, how is it that there are still so many issues with working arrangements like these? Thanks for your thoughts and answers - much appreciated.