Which Address to Use on Invoices for Expat
Thread poster: Ian Kahn
Ian Kahn
Ian Kahn
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:05
German to English
Jan 24, 2020

Hi all,

I recently invoiced a client in the USA and, as usual, I gave them my US address which is associated with my US bank account and also where I receive US bills, pay my US student loan, etc. The address is my parents' house where I lived my whole life until I moved abroad a few years ago.

My client asked me to resubmit my invoice with my foreign address "for tax purposes". Is this necessary? I've never had an issue with this before. I don't see how involving a for
... See more
Hi all,

I recently invoiced a client in the USA and, as usual, I gave them my US address which is associated with my US bank account and also where I receive US bills, pay my US student loan, etc. The address is my parents' house where I lived my whole life until I moved abroad a few years ago.

My client asked me to resubmit my invoice with my foreign address "for tax purposes". Is this necessary? I've never had an issue with this before. I don't see how involving a foreign address makes it any easier for me or for my client. I still want to be paid in US dollars to my US bank account.

I am also just a part-time freelancer. I have a full time job in the UK and translating is a side-gig I've done since college, so I don't have a business registered to my name here or anything like that.


Please help!
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:05
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
But your business, as a self-employed person, is where you physically reside Jan 24, 2020

Ian Kahn wrote:
The address is my parents' house where I lived my whole life until I moved abroad a few years ago.

My client asked me to resubmit my invoice with my foreign address "for tax purposes". Is this necessary? I've never had an issue with this before. I don't see how involving a foreign address makes it any easier for me or for my client. I still want to be paid in US dollars to my US bank account.

I am also just a part-time freelancer. I have a full time job in the UK and translating is a side-gig I've done since college, so I don't have a business registered to my name here or anything like that.

You're living full-time in the UK so you're fiscally resident there, I imagine? As a self-employed person, your work is undertaken in your own name, as a physical person rather than a legal entity. That means your home address is assumed to be your registered business address, unless you advise them of an office address in the same country. And you must pay taxes (and probably social security -- I don't know how that works there) to the UK authorities on all your income.

Where your bank account is and what currency it's in are irrelevant, although you need to find out the correct exchange rate for declaring your income in GBP. I receive payments in EUR, GBP and USD into PayPal, Skrill, and bank accounts in the UK and the EU -- Spain is quite happy to tax the lot!

Your client needs everything to be transparent and legal, otherwise they can risk being accused of tax fraud and even money-laundering.


Dan Lucas
Thomas T. Frost
Laura Kingdon
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Tina Vonhof (X)
ahartje
B D Finch
 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:05
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
No real room for ambiguity Jan 24, 2020

Sheila Wilson wrote:
You're living full-time in the UK so you're fiscally resident there, I imagine?

A few months away from home while travelling is one thing. "A few years" living in a different country is something else again. At the risk of sounding irredeemably square, and indeed totally humourless, you owe it to your clients to be transparent and forthright about where you reside. In nearly all jurisdictions, your place of residence is where they would deem your business to operate.

You may see it as "only" part-time work, but your clients are treating you as a professional - they are paying for a service in a commercial relationship - and no doubt clients with proper governance systems would expect you to behave professionally. It's hard to reconcile that expectation with the current, ah, ambiguity (and that's being charitable) surrounding your real place of business.

Regards,
Dan

[Edited at 2020-01-24 11:37 GMT]


Pedro Zimmer
Thomas T. Frost
Sheila Wilson
Laura Kingdon
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Tina Vonhof (X)
ahartje
 
Ian Kahn
Ian Kahn
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:05
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Additional requirements for the US client? Jan 24, 2020

I see. I assumed it would be easier for everyone if work done for a US company by a US person was dealt with in US terms (regardless of the fact that I pay tax on this abroad). I have only been living in the UK for 6 months but I do live and work here full-time, not as a traveler. I am also an EU citizen, i.e. not here on a work visa.

As a US citizen, I still have to report all my income and file a tax return in the US although there are systems to prevent double-taxation. Will this
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I see. I assumed it would be easier for everyone if work done for a US company by a US person was dealt with in US terms (regardless of the fact that I pay tax on this abroad). I have only been living in the UK for 6 months but I do live and work here full-time, not as a traveler. I am also an EU citizen, i.e. not here on a work visa.

As a US citizen, I still have to report all my income and file a tax return in the US although there are systems to prevent double-taxation. Will this new client be expected to send a 1099 form (the form used for independent contractors in the US) to the UK?

From now on, I'll be sure to include the address in my country of residence. Since this will tip the scales to the required income for sole-trader filing in the UK, I will register for that as well.


Thanks for your help.
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Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 10:05
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Ian Jan 24, 2020

Ian Kahn wrote:
I recently invoiced a client in the USA and, as usual, I gave them my US address which is associated with my US bank account and also where I receive US bills, pay my US student loan, etc.


Consult UK tax law. I believe the address on your invoice should be the address of your place of "residence". So even if you do have a bank account in the USA and you have a postal address there, you should use your UK address as "your" address.

My client asked me to resubmit my invoice with my foreign address "for tax purposes".


I'm not sure what they mean, but it could be that their accountant regards you as a non-US resident.

I still want to be paid in US dollars to my US bank account.


I'm not sure if it would be a problem to pay you in USD into a US bank account, even if your address is in the UK.

I have a full time job in the UK and translating is a side-gig I've done since college, so I don't have a business registered to my name here or anything like that.


Where do you *live* for more than 183 days out of each year?


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 09:05
Danish to English
+ ...
It matters Jan 24, 2020

Sheila and Dan are right.

You say you have a full-time job in the UK, but your Proz profile and website say you're resident in Germany. How can you be resident in Germany if you work full time in the UK? If your translation work is carried out in the UK and you live there, then income tax and social charges are due in the UK.

Both you and your clients could get in trouble if your invoice information is incorrect.

Something else: if you have a website (or ev
... See more
Sheila and Dan are right.

You say you have a full-time job in the UK, but your Proz profile and website say you're resident in Germany. How can you be resident in Germany if you work full time in the UK? If your translation work is carried out in the UK and you live there, then income tax and social charges are due in the UK.

Both you and your clients could get in trouble if your invoice information is incorrect.

Something else: if you have a website (or even just a profile on a third-party site such as Proz) intended for German clients, it's mandatory to include an imprint and various legal notices, particularly if you accept to provide services to consumers. A German Abmahnung (see https://www.makesyoulocal.com/post/take-care-in-germany-it-is-expensive-to-make-mistakes for an explanation) can be expensive.
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:05
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
W8-BEN Jan 24, 2020

Ian Kahn wrote:
As a US citizen, I still have to report all my income and file a tax return in the US although there are systems to prevent double-taxation. Will this new client be expected to send a 1099 form (the form used for independent contractors in the US) to the UK?

I believe the 1099 is for US residents, but maybe its for all US citizens everywhere? All I know is that a few US clients have sent me (a Brit living elsewhere in the EU) the W8-BEN form to fill in. Not all though -- I think there's an annual amount below which the client really doesn't need to have it. It stays with the client, as their justification for paying money to some "non-US" person/business.


 
Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 03:05
Dutch to English
+ ...
Double taxation Jan 24, 2020

I remember that when I received royalties from the US, I had to fill out a form each year to prevent being taxed in the US. I believe it was called W8 or something like that. You should really look into it.

Jorge Payan
 
The Misha
The Misha
Local time: 05:05
Russian to English
+ ...
Here's a rare occasion where I find myself disagreeing with you Jan 24, 2020

Dan Lucas wrote:

Sheila Wilson wrote:
You're living full-time in the UK so you're fiscally resident there, I imagine?

A few months away from home while travelling is one thing. "A few years" living in a different country is something else again. At the risk of sounding irredeemably square, and indeed totally humourless, you owe it to your clients to be transparent and forthright about where you reside. In nearly all jurisdictions, your place of residence is where they would deem your business to operate.

You may see it as "only" part-time work, but your clients are treating you as a professional - they are paying for a service in a commercial relationship - and no doubt clients with proper governance systems would expect you to behave professionally. It's hard to reconcile that expectation with the current, ah, ambiguity (and that's being charitable) surrounding your real place of business.

Regards,
Dan

[Edited at 2020-01-24 11:37 GMT]


Who cares where I live? It's no one else's business but mine - and the G-man's in some jurisdictions, of course. I have been in a similar situation for the past two years or so and even though I tend to inform my clients of my constantly changing whereabouts none of them seems to give a rat's patootie where I am, physically, as long as I stay in touch and deliver. How I handle the Caesar and what's due him is my business, not the client's.

Methink, the less we worry about what looks "professional" and what doesn't, the more time we'll have to concentrate on what's really important: delivering on the commitments we make and creating value for the client.

P.S. Disclosure: I do not have a picture of myself in a suit (heck, I haven't had a chance to put one on in years). I use a gmail address. I do not answer my phone and do no business on the phone. I do not keep fixed business hours. Shucks, I don't even have a pretty secretary, or even an office for that matter. Yet, I am very, very good at what I do and I am a man of my word. What do you think matters more?


 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:05
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Anti-money laundering regulations Jan 25, 2020

The Misha wrote:
Who cares where I live? It's no one else's business but mine - and the G-man's in some jurisdictions, of course.

I can see why this seems intrusive from the freelancer's perspective, but having worked in a number of multinationals I think it is very clear that most clients do, in fact, care about knowing the precise identity of their business counterparties - see Know Your Customer. Being able to establish exactly who it is they are dealing with is a critical part of the anti-money laundering initiatives for such clients. Not being able to say exactly where their customer resides is an instant red flag.

Of course, the original poster is unlikely to be a money launderer, but clients don't get to choose to whom they apply regulations.

On a more prosaic (and translation-specific) level, I would not deal with an agency unless I had a high degree of confidence in their physical location. If I were an agency, I would probably feel the same way about the freelancers with whom I conducted business.

Regards,
Dan


Thomas T. Frost
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Michele Fauble
 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:05
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Only dealing with partners who are operating in total legality is very important to clients, IMO Jan 25, 2020

The Misha wrote:
Methink, the less we worry about what looks "professional" and what doesn't, the more time we'll have to concentrate on what's really important: delivering on the commitments we make and creating value for the client.

As the title says, I think a translator's own legal structure is important to the client. Our commitment is as a business partner and all businesses need to be identifiable. I imagine that's the case in your own circumstances, even if you yourself travel around, but it wasn't the case in the OP's and that was clearly ringing alarm bells at the client's end. Like Dan, it's a major put-off for me if I feel a client is hiding where they really are. I need their registered business address on the invoice, otherwise if they don't pay there's zilch I can do about it.

P.S. Disclosure: I do not have a picture of myself in a suit (heck, I haven't had a chance to put one on in years). I use a gmail address. I do not answer my phone and do no business on the phone. I do not keep fixed business hours. Shucks, I don't even have a pretty secretary, or even an office for that matter. Yet, I am very, very good at what I do and I am a man of my word. What do you think matters more?

I agree with you on that as it all applies to me too (as a woman). And you certainly wouldn't want a picture of myself in my working clothes. Disclosure: I'm a naturist and I live in a lovely warm place (sorry for the mental picture inflicted on everyone ).


Thomas T. Frost
Michele Fauble
 


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