How to Fill VAT Registration for Freelancer in UAE - 0 views
started by simply-solved on 21 Oct 20
started by simply-solved on 21 Oct 20
started by simply-solved on 21 Oct 20
started by simply-solved on 21 Oct 20
VAT for Freelancer's relatively new arrival within the UAE started obviously at the beginning of this year in January 2020. It has far-reaching implications not only for the UAE generally but specifically for the freelance industry.
Specifically, I'm talking mostly about the freelance community that operates within the events and the production industries within the UAE. So it does raise a reminder of some of the challenges that already exist in the freelance world.
If anything that it does is make the challenges which I'll talk about later but make the challenges that we've already faced within the freelance community.
More obvious more likely to raise their heads and more likely for freelancers to start raising challenges in terms of some fairly basic things like being faced with changes in their visa situation being chipped and faced with and potential changes in their ability to obtain work and which are kind of important things to freelancers.
Why is it that I'm saying that these changes or have always been there or not are becoming more important or does it that I'm talking about let's start off with what I mean by a definition of a freelancer.
I mean freelancing is working for you it's the independent contracting option what does that mean from a legality point of view within the UAE. I often get asked is freelancing even legal here well I mean it is legal if you're properly licensed to be operating as a freelance.
Now there are some options but the options are shall we say challenged from an obtaining trade license point of view within the country and within the various emirates around the basis of operating as a freelancer.
In other countries that people might be used to the cell protection that the sole practitioner basis is not as easy to do here is, it might be in other areas and still to be legal. There are going to be situations therefore where we are going to have to start looking at things that freelancers tend not to focus on too much.
This is the type of visa vehicle the type of license that is attached to the kind of operation that they are undertaking as a freelancer.
How to get the Visa for Freelancers
The options for getting a visa and a trade license for a freelancer are not perfect and I know that trade associations like Ilia the independent life events Association and also the IAS production forum in the UAE are working hard in talking to the authorities to try to persuade them of a better way of providing visas and trade license sources for freelancers.
But until that happens we have to do our self-fix so what are the options now obviously if you can afford it great go and choose one of the freelance options that are available through DC CA or to 4:54 and then you can also look at setting up your own company problems the obvious one it's costly your
The second option therefore if you are unsure for example there is certain companies who will provide you with a visa route. I'm not talking about friends visas I'm talking about companies who are within the industry like event lab like Gulf crewing like Simply Solved who will be able to talk to you about visa options.
Now there are ramifications of doing that kind of or going that kind of route in that you will be putting your jobs through those kinds of companies in effect. But it's worth talking to those kinds of industry-based companies about the solutions that they can offer you, particularly where they're working on the shore.
Your other option is again self-health itself things if you're setting up your own company. You in effect are going to be able to create a trade license that's going to allow you to do what you want within your industry.
Many people normally will say as a freelancer I can't afford to set up a company and normally that would be true but if you look at clubbing there are certain ways of getting people together and then going to set up a company together.
What you're doing there in effect is reducing the cost that otherwise an individual would care about their own. It isn't a perfect solution but it is solutions you can massively reduce the cost that you carry on your own and it, therefore, makes it a viable solution to be able to set up a company get your trade license go in VAT register.
So that when your procurement department on a job asks you for a VAT registration number you can actually provide them one and then you can sort out amongst yourselves.
How you are going to do your accounting and so on and then you run under the usual trade names that you operate in the marketplace it is a doable way of operating it does give a solution.
So there are ways of doing things we don't live in a perfect world so far as the freelance market is concerned.