petitefrancaise

Welcome to BE! Thank you for the above post

I did already go to the small business advice center a few months ago. I'm going the easy route right now as sole proprietor. I don't think I'm likely to be sued.

I have been asking around about software for all this. There are some great tools out there! Currently thinking I will go with Asana + Harvest ( invoicing etc and able to be paid by credit card which might be convenient).

mrken30

Thanks for this. I have an obihai setup with google voice and have been thinking about giving up my vonage account. Sounds like this may work.
Have you used the obihai app successfully from your cell to call the UK?
Is the quality good enough to send faxes? It's not often I have to send faxes, but I send one or two a year maybe.

You can have an 0330 number for $0.25 / month , I found having a non geographical number useful for not getting junk calls. Calls to 0330 numbers are standard landline rate. Not sure how CLI would work

mrken30

If you are not going llc route, make sure you bump up your umbrella just in case. It is very cheap.

Olly_

I didn't know there was an Obihai app to be honest - I have an international call bundle on my cellphone so I just make calls to the UK that way. I do have the Google Voice app installed though and that works fine.

I've sent faxes successfully over my Obihai via Google Voice, I've not tried via DIDLogic but if you use the right codec there's no reason why it won't work.

abbyj504

You are welcome. I think Asana +Harvest is a great place to start. The biggest thing is to remember that you have to make sure you are very careful though when getting paid via credit card. You want to make sure your computer is secure because if you are hacked and their credit card info is found and used, you can be held liable.

petitefrancaise

grrrrrr!!!

I bought a London number from skype for a year, credited my account with $10 to get it all going and then found out that US Skype will no longer allow you to record your own voicemail message - it's just the default one which is no good at all.
I can get the calls forwarded to a cellphone number but it means getting another cellphone so that I can turn it off when I'm not working. I also don't want my friends and family getting a voicemail that says "sorry, we aren't able to take your call" on behalf of my clients. It really was all going so well.

I'm thinking I will just add a line to my existing t-mobile account and buy a cheapo phone since all I need it for is to take/make calls.

Bob

You can get a unlocked, dual sim phone from Amazon for $60 is you don't mind Amazon adverts on the lock screen that you can swipe away, like they do on Kindle and the Fire.

the cheap phone is a pretty decent budget Blu R1HD phone, they also have the Moto 4G Play for a bit more money.

petitefrancaise

The skype saga continues...

I bought another cell phone (target, unlocked $50) and got an extra line from t-mobile (only $10). Then set up the forwarding - it takes forever and doesn't work if you aren't actually on skype - pc/tablet running. This is now a major pita.
Skype stopped the custom voicemail greeting 3 weeks ago and the help forum is full of very angry customers who used it for business and now find themselves in the same shitty position as me except of course, all their business stationery and communications has this number on it.

I'll be doing my best to get a refund and probably get a vonage number (after I've checked that I can record my own message of course).

jammiie

Hi guys,

I'm moving out to the US with my wife in the next couple of months all being well.

As she won't have her EAD to begin with, I was hoping she might be able to do some freelance design work for her current employer back in the UK. We'd actually be happy for her to continue to be paid in GBP into our UK bank accounts for now. I envisioned the existing employer keeping her on payroll and rather than pay current salary, agree an hourly rate and pay based on a timesheet.

Would this situation have an US tax implications? Once she gets her EAD then she would look for a more permanent job in the US.

Cook_County

Her employers would be concerned about local US employment law, corporate tax & US withholding obligations. You wife could ask her employer to share with her the professional advice that they receive.

petitefrancaise

She can't work in the USA without employment authorisation.

Pulaski

Not only "yes", but "Hell yes!" .... You might be "happy", but the IRS certainly wouldn't.
The problem is that it's the OP and his wife who's necks are on the chopping block, and advice given to the wife's employer is pretty much worthless if the tax situation blows up.

jammiie

Thanks guys.

Her current employer in the UK is a very small outfit who wouldn't have access to any professional advice on the issue -- hence my question on here.

We are being provided with a US tax adviser for the 2017 FY so I shall raise with him. But in theory could she freelance for her UK employer and be paid GBP in the UK bank providing we declared it all in the US? I'm not savvy on how tax is paid in the US yet i.e. is it deducted throughout the year or are you given a bill at the end of the FY?

Pulaski

At best that would be wildly impractical - the UK employer must deduct taxes for everyone on the payroll, and also deduct NI, which cannot be claimed back. Then you'd have to pay US taxes and equivalents to NI contributions.

US taxes are collected in a half-är§ed attempt at PAYE, but the system is so complex that it doesn't work very well. Tax is deducted from your pay, but it might be a good bit too much, or too little, depending on your personal circumstances.

jammiie

How could it work if she invoiced him for services as a 3rd party consultant? I assume she wouldn't be able to do that whilst living in the US without the EAD?