To become self-employed, there are certain conditions that you must meet or you will be refused the status. First of all, you must be 18 years old unless you choose the craft profession. In this case, you can become independent from the age of 16, but then you need permission from your parents or guardian. If you are not Belgian or EU national, you will need to obtain a professional card (unless you are exempt). You must also enjoy your civil rights.
Next, you need to acquire the basic management knowledge
It’s a sort of mini-diploma that proves you have the knowledge to run a business. There are several ways to get it:
Any higher education diploma obtained in Belgium will give you this access (graduate, baccalaureate, master, etc.). If you obtained your diploma abroad, you will have to go through an approved business counter to see if diploma equivalence is possible.
If you have a high school diploma in economics, accounting or management, you also have access to management.
If you do not have any of these diplomas, you can take courses at a training organization and take an exam that will give you access to management. It is possible to train yourself in a few months. To find an organization got to the site. For that you can make use of the independent contractor tax calculator now.
Finally, you can also take the exam directly to the central jury of the Brussels Regional Public Service. Regarding the material to be studied, you will find it in this syllabus.
To start your self-employed activity, you will need to do the following:
To start, you must open a professional account in the bank of your choice. Then, you will have to go to an approved business counter to register. This is when you will have to prove that you meet all the conditions to exercise a self-employed activity;
- Once registered with the ECB, you must be subject to VAT for this, you must complete a declaration of commencement of activity that you will find in your VAT control office. If you want, the company counter can take the steps for you for a fee.
- You must then register with a social insurance fund for self-employed workers. This gives you the right to family benefits, pension and health insurance.
- Finally, you must join a mutual insurance fund and take the necessary insurance.
- Buying (acquiring) or selling (delivering) goods or services to a company based in another country of the European Union meets certain rules. One of them: intra-community VAT.
In short, this means that goods sold from France to buyers established in another EU member state are exempt in France. In return, the purchase is taxed in the country of destination, according to the conditions in force in that country.
