Organisation and thinking about #translation have been taking a break over recent weeks, being replaced by celebrating Christmas twice (don't ask), packing my life into the back of mum's car and obsessively checking right move! The day when I will cease to have a fixed income has unfortunately not stopped racing closer so it is time to pull my finger out.
As well as finalising my cover letters and CV and having these translated into German, I have also succeeded in setting up my email account and website (using the services of 1and1)...getting there slowly but surely. I have also been thinking a lot about the snoozetastic #tax money side of my new job and wondering whether to go down the sole trader route or to register as a limited company.
After discussing the pros and cons with an accountant and reading various articles (like this one on The Guardian) and threads on proz.com (such as this one and this one), I have come up with an initial plan.
The accountant recommended the path of limited company, mainly for tax reasons. If you were to take a minimum salary and then take dividends, you would save on national insurance and pay the (currently) lower rate of corporation tax as compared to income tax. A limited company is also completely separate to you as an individual so there is limited liability (not that translation is a particularly risky business). There is also the aspect of looking "professional", however I am slightly worried that I would end up looking too professional, in other words, I don't want people thinking that I am agency when really it is just me! On the downside, this option requires a lot more paperwork and you would have to pay more for your accountant.
Sole trader is the simpler option, though you do have to squirrel away money and make sure you don't spend it as you have to pay your tax for the year in advance, and the tax rate is higher. Seeing as I have absolutely no clue as to how much I am going to be earning (or if I am going to be earning anything in fact), I have decided to start out as a sole trader, and always bear in my mind that I can switch to limited company if I find that I am earning big bucks (the most wishful of thinking!)
