Invoice from India

Eduhouse · 21 January 2020 at 2:45AM

I have a limited company registered in the UK. Recently, we plan to do some business with Indian freelancers. Is it ok to accept an invoice from India?
In India, a private person can also provide service and issue an invoice even if he does not have a company registered (with income up to 20 lakh yearly). I was wondering if I can also accept invoices from those individuals? (from people who do not have a company).

bengalknights · 21 January 2020 at 9:42AM

You can accept invoices from anyone, its your business.

Mistral001 · 21 January 2020 at 10:36AM

No problem with getting an invoice from India.

BTW a "private person" can run a business in the UK. They are called sole traders. There is no requirement in the UK for a sole trader to register their business either. They are required to pay tax of course. Sole traders are very common in the UK. UK is unlike many other European countries such as Germany and the Republic of Ireland where all businesses must be registered.

seatbeltnoob · 21 January 2020 at 9:08PM

you need to comply with UK law, his tax affairs is his business.

So what mistral001 said is bang on. Let your freelancer worry about his tax affairs.

Rhenser · 22 January 2020 at 1:06AM

Mistral001 wrote: »

... UK is unlike many other European countries such as Germany and the Republic of Ireland where all businesses must be registered.

Whilst anyone operating in Germany involved in retail, plus caterers and producers of goods, as well as anyone involved in the "trades" must usually have their business registered, it is not quite correct to suggest that all businesses in Germany must be registered.

All self employed people must be registered with the tax office, as in the UK.

But as far as registering the business itself, that is quite a complicated matter in Germany.

There are, of course, similar registration requirements in Germany as there are in the UK for "real" companies, but if you consider what in the UK is known as a sole trader, then there are a number of different scenarios in Germany which cover that description.

e.g. Professionals such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, tax advisers, architects and even engineers, interpreters or journalists that can all work as freelance professionals. You may need to be a member of the appropriate professional authority to carry on such a profession (e.g. like a doctor in the UK must be registered with the Medical Counsel) but the business itself is not necessarily registered.

Then there are other types of self employed freelancers who do not require to register as a business either, such as actors, artists, authors, comedians, circus performers, dancers, singers, etc

Then there are those involved in agriculture or forestry who also usually have no requirement to register their business.

Just a few examples, but it really is terribly complicated in Germany. Anyone considering setting up in business in Germany really should seek professional business advice first. In Germany, that could well be from a business that is not required to be registered itself, advising you that you should be :cool:

Mistral001 · 22 January 2020 at 3:36PM

Rhenser wrote: »

Whilst anyone operating in Germany involved in retail, plus caterers and producers of goods, as well as anyone involved in the "trades" must usually have their business registered, it is not quite correct to suggest that all businesses in Germany must be registered.

All self employed people must be registered with the tax office, as in the UK.

But as far as registering the business itself, that is quite a complicated matter in Germany.

There are, of course, similar registration requirements in Germany as there are in the UK for "real" companies, but if you consider what in the UK is known as a sole trader, then there are a number of different scenarios in Germany which cover that description.

e.g. Professionals such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, tax advisers, architects and even engineers, interpreters or journalists that can all work as freelance professionals. You may need to be a member of the appropriate professional authority to carry on such a profession (e.g. like a doctor in the UK must be registered with the Medical Counsel) but the business itself is not necessarily registered.

Then there are other types of self employed freelancers who do not require to register as a business either, such as actors, artists, authors, comedians, circus performers, dancers, singers, etc

Then there are those involved in agriculture or forestry who also usually have no requirement to register their business.

Just a few examples, but it really is terribly complicated in Germany. Anyone considering setting up in business in Germany really should seek professional business advice first. In Germany, that could well be from a business that is not required to be registered itself, advising you that you should be :cool:

Thanks for that clarification. I had assumed that the OP would be operating under a trading name and I think he could not do that in Germany without registering the business. Maybe that is not correct. I have worked with various German firms and they tell me things that I might not pick up very well.

Thanks again. I was particularly interested in what you said about the professions.

Invoice from India

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free