Proof of self employed status question.

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
If a customers asks for self employed status proof then what am I supposed to give? Is there a formal certificate or some sort of card that I was supposed to get?

I only have a letter addressed directly to me from SVA Zurich that confirms my self employed status. Would a copy of this letter be enough? Is this what everyone uses as proof? The letter that I got from SVA Zurich looks exactly like the text I have typed below.

________________________________________________

SVA Zurich letterhead

My name, then my company name and address

Abrechnungs-NR. xyz.905

Erfassung als Kassenmitglied

________________________________________________

Sehr geehrtes Mitglied

Gesützt auf eine Meldung unsere Geminde-Zweigstelle teilen wir ihnen mit, dass Sie ab

01. MAI 2010

als SELBSTAENDIG ERWERBENDE (R) IM HAUPTERWERB OHNE ARBITNEHMER

unserer Kasse angeschlossen sind.

___________________________________________

Then there is some more text but I guess you get the idea. So is that the proof or shall I get hold of some other document in the future?

2
I got the impression that there are lot of self employed people here. Please anyone?

3
I don't know the answer to your question but have you tried searching through the various threads on self-employment to see if it's there?

4
I went though lot of them but no direct answer so far. I am still digging through the other threads. Thanks for replying.

5
You're welcome .

Perhaps other EFers who might know are just not logged into the forum at present . . .

If I do find out in the meantime, I will let you know.

6

I submitted such a letter from SVA to one of my contracts and they accepted it, no problem.

7
I think there is a bit more to do after this and I am researching some of this myself.

8
I have never been asked by any of my clients to send proof, but if I did I would probably just send them my company id number as I got when I registered my GmbH

9
Thanks both of you. I am still wondering if there is some other simple document that could be used as proof. You know a simple document from SVA Zurich that say "XYZ is self employed".

Handing copy of a private letter that I got from SVA seems bit strange to me but I guess that is how it must be.

Registering at Swiss commercial register would be one way to make this process simpler but as it is not compulsory for self employed people I rather not go that way. Search also revealed this post which makes me not want to register with handelsregister. Not that I am planning to screw over any customer.

10
That is because GmbH is completely different kettle of fish and not same as self employed thing that I am talking about.

11
Larsjensen the other thing I wanted to add was that some of your clients probably confirmed that you are not working black by searching your GmbH status online at the Swiss commercial register. Hence they never asked you directly

With a self employed person like me they can't always do that search hence they need to confirm by asking me directly for proof. They ask because they can get into trouble if they pay someone who was pretending to be self employed while working black.

12
your permit should say if you are allowed to work self employed. sva document may not be enough but I'll know more over the next month or two.

13
You are confusing matters. I am already officially and legally self employed and I pay my own AHV as a self employed person directly to SVA. My actual status is not an issue.

Why won't SVA document be enough when they are the ones in charge of the matter?

My permit does not say anything about my work status because I am from EU, married to local person and I have a C permit.

14

aah you did not say that. I think C allows you to work freelance.

15
Who is asking you for proof that you are self employed? Do they want your AVS #? I'm sort of just as confused as you.

16
I did around 9k worth of work for a customer. They have already given me half of the money. They are about to pay the rest but wanted to make sure that I was self employed like I said I was. So they asked me for proof of my self employed status.

So my question was how do I prove that to them? The only options I could think of were-

1- Send copy of the letter that I got from SVA Zurich when they confirmed my self employed status after I had successfully filled their forms.

2- Copy of RECHNUNG that I send to SVA Zurich for my AHV contributions every 3 months as a self employed person. This piece of paper clearly says "AHV/IV/EO Selbständigerwerbend". I won't send this because from it they will know how much I make yearly which I think is my private business.

3- Copy of my AHV/AVS/AI/IV card? I think older cards used to have Ausgleichskassen box with a one digit number that would correspond with your self employed etc status ( I think). The newer version does not have that any more. New ones since 2008 have a credit card sized sticker with just name, date of birth and the insurance number. Also is it even wise to send your AHV No. to strangers?

So my semi logical choice is option 1. I will send that to the customer and they will probably accept it but I wanted to know for future use if there is some other method that I was not aware of?

17
I would ask them what sort of "proof" they are looking for. You could make a photo copy of #1 and/or #2 and white out the private info like income, etc. Perhaps your AVS # would be enough? I see no reason why you can't send you AVS/AHV # to a client.

18
Just going through the process now. They want a few copies of bills, contracts etc. to determin if you are in a kind of schein-selbständigkeit.

I have two hard customer contracts and this may not be enough for them..

I will keep y ́all informed.

19
Number one should do it.

The company probably wants to ensure you are legitimately self employed, and the SVA letter with your registration number is more than adequate. The penalties for companies employing black labour are heavy so they want to verify your position.... no dramas.

20
I phoned the client and they said the letter is all they needed. They ask all people who work for them to provide proof. It is basically to make sure they don't land in hot water as Papa Goose mentioned in his post.

Now I must think if I should register with Handelsregisteramt too or continue to keep things simple.

Slammer are you from an EU country? If yes then it should not be a problem.