Quote:
Originally Posted by Bevdeforges
Making your living on the Internet is certainly one option, but it pays to remember that, Internet or no, working from home (legitimately  ) involves running your own business. Some folks just aren't really set up to run the whole show themselves.
To run your own business (on the Internet or elsewhere) requires a certain level of self-discipline and organizational skills. Then, there is the matter of handling the "paperwork" side of things - taxes, social charges and (where necessary) properly registering your business.
For expats, especially, there is the need to get integrated into the local tax and social insurances systems and that isn't always easy with a home or Internet business. Just as a side note, I hear that the French authorities started doing sweeps of eBay France to try and find people who were subject to VAT assessment and registration. Haven't been over there in a while, but when I last visited, I noted that eBay France has far fewer full-time online vendors than eBay UK, and I suspect it relates to the ease of registering that sort of business.
Cheers,
Bev |
I agree that some people aren't cut out to run a business. And if they are thinking that doing it online is an easy way to avoid tax they are mistaken!
However it's an option that most people just don't consider especially those of us who didn't have computers around when they were younger. And as for doing it yourself that's why we have accountants (or bookkeepers), hire secretaries (by the hour in some cases) etc. I guess I've had my own business for so long (since 1996 in one form or another) that after a while dealing with accountants etc. becomes second nature.
And yes I've been to an accountant since arriving in Australia saying this is what I want to do how do I do it in Australia?
I knew the UK rules (when the government wasn't busy changing them every year
) but had little or no idea about the Australian ones but that's where a good accountant comes in.
You rarely have to do it all on your own - it's just a matter of finding the right resources. I know it eased the pressure from us by having an online business when we first moved to Australia, since we had money coming in every month and didn't have to get jobs immediately.
Regards,
Karen