Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

I'm a freelance webdesigner/computer programmer, with all my work done through the net. I'm a UK citizen but want to join the 4,000 people fleeing from here every week and go to live somewhere else in the E.U.

Does anyone know a good place in the E.U to be self-employed over the internet?

The factors I'm considering are chiefly paperwork and beurocracy, cost of living, and ease for an english speaking person to settle in.

I've investigated France (nightmare red-tape), Germany (cheap to rent accomodation, but I think a lot of paperwork regarding taxation), Spain (not too much beurocracy but hard to find rented flats?).

Eastern europe would be great for cost of living, but not sure if I could handle all the form filling without knowing the language.

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

Spain is the home of beaurocracy :D
But you can employ a gestoria who will do all for you at reasonable cost

But I don't know why you think its difficult to get rented flats .... Our agents windows are full of them in this area. There's a lot of property over here for rent

Cost of living abt 30% less than the UK
Large ex pat communities

Should suit you fine ;)

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

thanks Mitzyboy, I'll have to come over and check out the rental situation. Hasn't it got a lot easier in terms of setting up buisness in Spain though? I thought that EU citizens only need to get their NI number now and its away you go.

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

I should ask that question of people on the Spanish forum ...... I have heard of nightmares but I think it depends on what kind of business you go into.

But you need to get yourself an NIE, sign on the padron, get a residency certificate and at least two of those require you stand in an enormous queue for hours and hours

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

I reckon Brussels to be v. good choice , too ( but only if you like good grub and best beers ) ; it is full of expats , english spoken a lot , relatively easy tax angles , cheap-ish to rent and get about ...

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

Self-employed in Romania:

- Flat tax-rate: 16%
- Health (state-owned hospitals): 6.5%
- Social security is optional. Don't know the rates.
You will need a certification for that domain (ie: Computer Science) recognized by the authorities. (I guess that any diploma issued by a Uni in EU is OK).

You may choose between
(a) a fixed income (fixed norm) which is decided by the city council and differs from city to city and by domain. For IT I think (I might be wrong) it's somewhere around 3000 EUR/year. So you pay 16%+6.5% from that amount (it doesn't matter if you earn 100 EUR or 20000 EUR). You don't need a bookkeeper.
(b) to keep books. You will need a bookkeeper or you can do this yourself. You will pay the 16+6.5% from what you make but you can subtract the money used for different items to "help" you with your work (ie: computer hardware).
If you make less than 30000 EUR/year you do not have to pay VAT.

Red-tape: there are alot of LEGAL companies which may help you with the papers for a new company / self-employed for only 150 EUR.
Rent: for a furnished 45 sqm apartment expect from 250 to 450 EUR per month.
A 30-day pass for one public transport line is about 10 EUR (extremly crowded during 7:15 to 8:15 am and unreliable). A cab is about 0.5 EUR per kilometer (add 50% to that at night) and all cities (except Bucharest) are at most 15 km from one end to theother :)
Food: A bit more expensive than in Bulgaria and a bit cheaper than in Czech Republic. A beer in a pub frequented by Uni students is about 0.9 EUR
Internet: for 14-20 EUR/month (depending on ISP) you get 4 mbps down and 1-2 mbps up (absolutely no FUP; some also offer speeds of up to 50 mbps with subscribers from the same city as a bonus)

I reccommend you go to Timisoara. It's very close to the border with Hungary and Serbia.
Next option would be Cluj-Napoca (central Romania, in Transylvania) or Iasi (eastern border). All have lots of students and IT companies.
If you only want to go for the money you may also choose Bucharest (biggest city in Romania but I consider it a s*** hole).

I hope that helped :)

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

thanks gattone, thats really useful advice. :thumbsup: I'd never considered Romania but it sounds like I won't get anywhere as good in Eastern Europe. Are there any problems with crime and safety for ex-pats?

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

Small crime (like pickpocketing) is quite frequent. Violent gangs moved to Spain and Italy long time ago (they can keep 'em :D).
Also forgot to tell you to buy computer hardware from the Western Europe because here they are more expensive (don't be surprised to get the same laptop for 10-20% more compared to what you would pay in Germany).


Anyway I'm interested in self-employment in Czech Republic. If anyone has information about the new tax rates (I heared that they will use a flat-rate too) please share...

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

I have found a good portal that gives some useful information on self-employment for each of the countries inthe EU :

http://europa.eu.int/eures/main.jsp?...=en&parentId=0

Don't know about the new tax rate in the Czech Republic, I know that in Slovakia they now have a flat rate of 19% and they've just made it a lot simpler to set up buisness (you can do it a day apparently).

Again, thanks for all the advice everybody.

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

If language is your #1 issue, I'd recommend Ireland. :)

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

i agree with that spain, choice.

because one of my friends has done successful already in there.

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

I'm in the same line of work. Living in France now (married into the family). If I had the same job and workload in the UK I'd be better off by at least double. The tax being the main problem, the second being the administration.
From what I've read on this forum, Spain would be my ideal choice if I had to up sticks again.

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

Don't hit me.....Have you considered Ireland? I'm serious, it has a relatively low tax rate but I can't comment on the cost of living. Property prices haven't hugely boomed yet either(within reason)

Obviously there is no language barrier then.

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

I think the best is to spend just one year in each country and keep on moving, for instance one year in India, then one year in Japan, then one year in South Africa, the Spain, then USA etc. so that way you don't have to register much. Well, it may be not such a good advice if your business requires a physical location, but if you own say an online forum that gets you a lot of $$$ in Google AdSense money, then you can pretty much be a gypsy.

I am originally from Lithuania and I spent over a decade in English-speaking countries and I wonder if I moved to Spain would I qualify to join a British Expatriate community if I speak English, or would I have to be British born or lived many years in the UK? I spent 12 years in USA and then some in South Africa, been in UK too, but not for long. I don't wanna deal with cold climates anymore, otherwise I would with no doubt go back to where I came from.

Oh, and by the way, what are you worried about in Europe? USA has it all - cheap-cheap rentals as low as $200 a month in a small town, business registration takes 1 minute or less, taxes are low and easy to file online, living is convenient, income tax is relatively easy, self-employement can be done anywhere in USA, very business-friendly most of USA if not all of it, just one thing - women are fat and very spoiled, but if you stick with immigrants and foreign women then you'll be fyne. I'm considering moving back to Europe just for a change, but I may not last long overthere, especially with ridiculous housing prices in the EU; even in Eastern Europe. In USA you can buy a decent brick home for $40000 (fawtee thousand) which is like 25 thousand Urhoas (EYPOC). No kidding! Even less now! And the (selection of) climate is great.

Re: Best Place in the EU to be Self-Employed
 

Read the title again ?