I am a freelance writer, editor and journalist. I'm a dual US/Swiss citizen but haven't lived in CH for years hence these questions! All my friends/family in CH work as salaried employees and don't know the answer.
Status:
I am fairly sure that for my type of work it is unnecessary to become a GMBH. I simply declare myself self-employed and register as such with the AHV and pay the relevant amount into the AHV?
VAT?
Some of my book/writing contracts are flat fees or a fee plus royalties (I don't send an invoice, I get paid when my manuscript is approved or in the case of royalties, I get checks twice a year as long as the book is profitable).
But for other jobs, like journalism work for magazines or editing work, I get a contract but when I finish the job I do need to send my employer an invoice to get paid. My employers are all based outside Switzerland (at the moment they are in the UK, USA and Australia).
For jobs that require invoices, do I need to place a VAT fee/number on the invoice? I find this idea bizarre, because companies in the US would certainly not pay me VAT!
Are there any other people working as freelance journalists / writers / editors and have any advice I'd be most grateful!?
I'm a freelance writer/journalist (Finland/EU-citizen) and hoping to move here permanently to be with my Swiss boyfriend and work here on a self-employed basis. There are a bunch of threads around this forum, for example this thread
deals with the issue. I mostly work for newspapers etc. outside Switzerland so am in a similar position and trying to figure out the best way to go about it at the moment. I'm also an authorized ashtanga yoga teacher and would like to teach here in Bern; but that might require a whole different work permit. This is another excellent thread
we are a family-owned boarding school ( www.chantemerle.ch ) and looking for a Freelance journaliste/writer to put together a promotional article on the school and its programs.
That's pretty much it, unless you have a need for limited liability, but the main thing to remember is that you don't decide you're self-employed, you fill in all the SVA forms and they decide whether or not you're self-employed. So long as you have at least 3 different clients, it shouldn't be a problem at all. In practice it means you sort of start work first, then submit some invoices (showing the spread of clients) and your marketing materials before you get your official s/e status.
The VAT threshold is CHF 100k, so if you are earning less than that, there's no requirement to register for VAT although you can do so if you wish. If your clients are outside CH, then no VAT applies anyway (however, when I registered back in 2004, there was a little clause allowing you to register for VAT if you wanted to if your export sales were of a level to require VAT registration had they been domestic sales). So no, you shouldn't need to register for VAT and even if you were VAT-registered, you wouldn't need to charge VAT to clients outside CH.
Oh and one other tip - stop referring to them as "employers" and start referring to them as "clients". The SVA is very hot on stopping employers employing people to work only for them but on a "self-employed" basis so the employer doesn't have the responsibility of social security and pension contributions (which is why they, not you, determine your actual status).
ETA: I've just seen the date of the OP, but decided to leave this here anyway in case it's of use to others
I currently split my time between Zurich and Lucerne as a newly-minted copywriter and marketing editor. I have been toying with the idea of branching into freelance work, in part as a way of broadening the scope of my writing, and partly to supplement my regular income.
Would you have any advice as to how and where to begin? The internet is an overflow of information and offers, but I'm finding it nigh impossible to separate the serious from the spam.
I would greatly appreciate even the gentlest nudge in the right direction.