Freelancers of Belarus. Legal freelance. Finding an expert for your project

03/14/2018 - Not so long ago, the state decided to officially recognize an army of thousands of people working on the Internet for themselves. See also: How cashback (money back) works when buying goods and services The homeland of a real Freelancer is an IT country!

In connection with the course of the government of the Republic of Belarus taken to create "IT-countries", and the adoption of a number of regulatory documents simplifying IT activities, such as: the Presidential Decree "On the regulation of the activities of individuals" and the recent Decree "On the development of the digital economy" experts predict a serious surge in the activity of freelancers, and high employment of the population in this type of work.

Today, the most popular "free workers" at a distance are programmers, web developers, copywriters, content managers, business consultants and even specialists in education and research.

Experts state that over the past few years, the demand for freelancers from the post-Soviet camp has increased several times in Western countries. This is due to the fact that our fellow citizens are quite executive and hardworking people. In addition, the prices of European and American professionals are much higher, but the quality of the product is not at all higher. A logical question that does not require an answer - why pay more ?!

Belarusian freelance exchanges Today in Belarus there are already a sufficient number of freelance exchanges where you can start earning, for example, such as Globalfreelance.by, ITFreelance.by, Freelancer.bel, Belfreelancer.by.

The most unusual freelance project is Global Freelanceallowing our compatriots who know English to earn money. Of the features of the service, one can single out the fact that all tasks come only from foreign customers, and most of the tasks are relatively simple and have an academic focus.

At Globalfreelance.by, both students and specialists from various industries such as economics, mathematics, programming, philology, English and others will find work within their powers. The functionality of the resource is accessible and understandable, laconic and promotes the search for profitable orders, perhaps the only drawback is that only foreign customers can place tasks on this service.

In terms of popularity and the amount of earnings, the previous service is slightly inferior to the resources Freelancer.bel and ITFreelance.by, which are popular in a certain segment. They will be useful for freelancers who specialize in website development and advertising services. At the same time, we have to admit that the Belfreelancer.by project is becoming more and more obsolete - in comparison with 2016, when the resource was at its peak of popularity, now its audience is reduced to single orders that clearly do not satisfy the countless army of people who want to make money. If for some reason you fail to find a suitable job on Belarusian freelance sites, you can always use Russian and world counterparts such as upwork.com, freelancer.com, freelance.ru and fl.ru. How to make a lot? Of course, many of our fellow citizens are skeptical not only about third-party orders, but also about their own capabilities, significantly underestimating them. Many aspiring freelancers face challenges primarily due to inexperience. In order to avoid serious mistakes in your work, you must follow a few key rules.

So, to begin with, any freelancer needs to draw up the most accurate daily routine and work schedule, and follow it almost strictly. Through trial and error through your day, you can figure out what time frame you work most easily or productively. It is during these hours of activity that you leave the lion's share of the work, but in no case live tomorrow, hoping for inspiration.

The principle of a good freelancer in high demand is "the job should have been finished yesterday!" Being on time does not mean living on the brink of a deadline, it means protecting yourself from failure and confidently going to new heights.

The second rule of a good freelancer is to try to avoid stereotyped work. Avoid repetition, even if you think it is just your thing. It is the stereotyped thinking of many freelancers that makes many customers refuse their services, since it is unlikely, if not impossible, to repeat the initial success with the same type of product. The third rule of a demanded freelancer is the understanding that the client is always right. Often, it is the quarrelsomeness and quarrelsomeness of the freelancer, burdened with overestimated self-esteem and representing himself as the best specialist, that repels the customer who does not want to look stupid for his own, sometimes considerable, money. It's obvious, right? As the old proverb says - keep it simple, and people will be drawn to you. In conclusion, let us remind possible freelancers about the unspoken rule not to dump in relation to each other, so as not to reduce the economic feasibility of the activities of a whole group of people. Coexist with other freelancers wisely.

If you get tattoos, take off weddings or shave your beards like a crazy bee and sometimes think about the legality of your salary, we tell you how to formalize relations with employers, pay taxes and withdraw currency without unnecessary headaches. Dedicated to all freelancers!

What options are there?

There is no special regulation on freelance work in Belarus. Therefore, you need to focus on the concept of "entrepreneurial activity" which is the closest in meaning. If you have a permanent place and a favorite circle in the office, and you consider freelancing as a part-time job, the easiest option is to conclude a work contract, i.e. a document for the performance of a specific work with the payment of a specific fee. In this case, the relations between the parties are regulated not by the Labor Code, but by the Civil Code.

If the volume of work is quite decent, the customer is mad about drawing up a contract or you want to completely switch to freelancing, send a boss and leave for the winter, the most logical option is to add the loud phrase "individual entrepreneur" to your name.

Paying taxes, working “in black” and hiding is also an option, but be prepared for the risk: the customer may not pay (without a contract in hand, you will not prove anything), and you can also get a fine for illegal business activities.

How to work on a contract?

A work contract with you can be concluded as with an individual, and therefore it is not necessary to run and register a legal entity or individual entrepreneur. If you work on a contract for more than 183 days and your salary is BYN 1470, you will not even be considered a parasite (in a situation where you do not have a permanent job). But remember that a work contract is not an employment contract, so you can not hope for sick leave payments or the inclusion of time in the length of service, from which the pension is calculated. Even the rate under such an agreement may be lower than the national minimum wage. But we are sure that you are at least a little able to bargain and you will not allow this. See average hourly rates for freelancers.

From the good: if you act as an individual, you don't have to bother with the tax office and declarations - your employer or customer takes care of this. Money can be issued in cash.

The downside is that if you work under such a system for less than six months, the relevant authorities can take you into circulation. The tax on parasitism is now 20 base.

How to draw up such a contract correctly?

Check for payment of state duty.

For the state duty, you need to pay 0.5 base, in "Belarusbank" they know the details by heart, for the rest it is better to print. The SP certificate is given immediately. With a certificate in hand, you can already print in any printing center (if you want, this is not necessary).

With an IP certificate and a seal, you need to go to open a current account. There is no big difference between the tariffs of banks, so the easiest way is to become a client of a bank that is closer to home. Internet banking is also a useful feature. An individual entrepreneur will have to open a regular current account to the current account in order to withdraw lave.

After 5 working days, you can pick up a document on registration of an individual entrepreneur at the tax office in the same executive committee - come in the morning, there will be a minimum of people. You will be automatically registered with the FSZN.

The most common option for individual entrepreneurs is to use a simplified taxation system. An application for it must be written within 20 days after registration, otherwise they will tear to the maximum (from 18%). The rate depends on whether you pay VAT - 3% with it and 5% without it.

Personal income tax is usually 16%. It should be chosen by those who, in their entrepreneurial activities, have large expenses: raw materials, material costs, for the remuneration of hired employees. Although the tax rate is higher, it is calculated not from revenue, but from net profit. Grab a calculator or Excel and calculate the kosher version.

How and when to pay them?

The easiest way is to pay taxes on a quarterly basis. The inspector waits for the declaration until the 20th digit of the month following the reporting month. Until the 22nd, you need to agree on the amount and send the payment. The tax return is submitted on a cumulative basis, which means that the past period is taken into account each time. If you are registered in one place, but live in another, spend the winter in Goa, or simply don’t like to spend time moving around the city, you can purchase an electronic declaration system. Cost - BYN 78.74 for two years.

If you have registered an individual entrepreneur, and you have not managed to earn anything, you do not have to submit a zero declaration, but you must warn your inspector.

What is Freelance? According to some sources, the term freelancer was first used by Walter Scott in the novel "Ivanhoe" to describe a "medieval mercenary warrior." In the 19th century, new forms of use of this word appeared, denoting professional activities not associated with long-term labor relations with an employer. This type of relationship with the employer is a generally accepted global practice, and is especially common in such fields of activity as journalism, computer programming, graphic design, consulting and other professional and creative activities. According to Wikipedia, 7.4% of the workforce in the US works as freelancers. And over the past 3 years, global companies have increased the volume of outsourcing services over the Internet by 22%. The main advantage of freelancing is the freedom of choice, both on the part of the employer and on the part of the contractor. The performer can develop his professional qualities in various fields. The employer can choose the most suitable candidate for each job. But freedom is not as easy as many people think. Firstly, the workload of a freelancer, and as a consequence, the salary is not sufficiently defined and predictable. Secondly, a freelancer cannot take advantage of the benefits of working for a company, such as health insurance and retirement benefits (depending on the legislation of the country), paid vacations and sick leave, receiving bonuses. Thirdly, a freelancer has to take on all the tasks of concluding contracts and legalizing his activities. Depending on the service provided, this can lead to significant time and additional costs. Given the importance of freelancing for the economy and the obvious problems in this area, the European Community has initiated work to study this problem and create a regulatory framework that reduces the costs of freelancers to formalize their services on the one hand, and prohibits the employer from using freelancers without giving them the opportunity to make pension contributions or rely on paid vacation and sick leave. On the other hand, the UK insists on a law granting freelancers full-fledged status of a company employee when hiring, or registering a freelancer with special agencies to ensure their rights. The bulk of freelancers in economically developed countries work under contracts. The imperfection of the legislation of some countries does not allow their economies to enjoy the benefits of freelance services. Simplified registration and taxation systems would enable companies to take full advantage of the advantages of freelancing services and protect the rights of a specialist who wants to work on such conditions. The main of these advantages, I would single out creativity and innovation, achieved through freedom and self-motivation (problems well known to experienced managers). On the other hand, legal remote work of specialists for foreign customers can turn their income into a predictable source of foreign capital. So Thus, freelancing is a certain culture of the relationship between the employer and the employee and the attitude to work as such. Is it worth the state and society to treat this as a problem that needs to be eradicated, or is it a problem that needs to be solved, as a task on the way of developing the country's economy? In my opinion, a modern developing state must take into account the interests of society, and must create favorable conditions for people who want to work and receive reasonable monetary compensation for their labor. There are no favorable conditions for freelancers in our country. Many of my friends are freelancers. They are professionals in their field who know how to organize themselves to provide quality service and intensive self-study and self-development. Some have even received professional recognition at the world level. It is obvious that they want to have the same rights as employees of Belarusian companies. They want, for example, to be able to get a bank loan to buy a home or a car. But, unfortunately, in our country the question is "how can I pay taxes?" better not to say it out loud. As a result, you still won't be able to register, and you will pay a fine. Although, I admit that at the moment our legislation allows some types of legalization of freelance income. I think, in our country, educational work in the direction of both freelancers and in the direction of society and the state could bring good results. The most promising direction for solving freelance problems at the legislative level, in my opinion, would be to transfer responsibility for regulating relations to the employer, as a more organized participant in labor relations.

Belarusian freelancer Alexander Dudinsky, who was "caught" by the tax inspection of Belarus, talks about his struggle with the state system and future plans

A detailed story of Alexander Dudinsky, who, like all our readers, works on the Internet, and, I think, differs from some of them in that he regularly pays taxes, but also turned out to be guilty before the system, can be read on Habré. the site asked about the current state of affairs and future plans of Alexander.

- Good afternoon, Alexander! Tell us what is the current state of your business?

Now I am preparing a complaint against the ruling of the Supreme Economic Court of Minsk. I am waiting for written replies from the Ministry of Finance, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Taxes and Tax Collection in Minsk and the Pervomaisky District of Minsk on the issues of electronic money and the legality of actions of tax officials

- How do you think, is its successful outcome possible? Do you plan to get back only your own finances or some other compensation (according to the decision of the last court, Alexander must pay a fine and received income in the amount of more than $ 3 thousand)?

There is nothing to get back yet, tk. I haven't paid anything yet (fine and confiscation of income)
Trying to get some kind of compensation in our state, I think, is useless. I don't want to waste time and money. Now the main task is to abolish the penalty, all forces are thrown at it.

How did you declare your e-income? Considering that in Belarus they are still guided exclusively by general standards for all income, what difficulties did you encounter?

There were no problems. I took an extract from the bank, on whose card I had withdrawn webmoney, and took it to the tax office of my area. The declaration was accepted without question. It was only later that the chief tax inspector in court said that in fact declaration filed illegally, and a protocol was to be drawn up against me at the very filing of the declaration. Here is such a circus in our government agencies.

I also want to draw your attention to the fact that the tax authorities of the Pervomaisky district openly declare that they have not completely figured out electronic money, and do not really understand what's what. But at the same time, law-abiding citizens are fined :)

- Are you currently conducting business on the Internet with the receipt of WM income, or have you temporarily suspended it?

Do inspectors read your site? :)
<ирония>
I have an individual entrepreneur, why should I risk it again and use electronic money, if you can receive payment by bank transfer. Our state has created all the conditions for young specialists, and all Belarusian and not only companies are downright exhausted from the desire to work under a contract with 100% white pay.

In fact, if you refuse to pay with electronic money, a large percentage of projects will simply pass by the executors. Such is the specifics of the industry. And the level of work is probably not the same for large companies to order website development from freelancers. 5-10 percent of employers work under the contract.

Do not work with Belarusian customers without a contract. Do not fall for test purchases, carefully withdraw electronic money and everything will be fine. You can still work for a couple of years, and then, you see, they will come up with something more or less adequate in relation to electronic money.

What measures would you propose to take so that the tax authorities get theirs and for those who work on the Internet it is easy and convenient to pay?

In fact, I do not understand at all the policy of the state in general and the economic court in particular.
I filed a tax return, this is 12% of income. If I did all these projects as an individual entrepreneur, the state would get 8%, which is one and a half times less. Question: where is the logic? And the logic is simple: instead of the legal 12%, the state wants to take 100%.
Those. I believe that paying 12% of income is quite an adequate figure for our state. And the freelancer seems to be working in white, and taxes are dripping to the state, everyone is happy. The only question is, is this necessary for our clumsy system?

- How much longer do you think it will be possible to carry out freelance activities at your own peril and risk?

I think that for a couple of years everything will remain in the air. Then they will adopt some stupid decree, from which everyone will be shocked, but in a month or two they will "polish" it so that at least somehow it will be possible to work.

And why exactly did you become a victim of the "capture"? Will of chance, or maybe your competitors or someone else just snitched on you?

As far as I know, the reason is trivial: a good rating on one of the freelance exchanges.

- Thank you for the interview :) Successful solution of the case.

So, dear readers, you have to decide on your own how profitable it is to have a name and popularity on the buynet, while the tax office examines the accounts offline.

Interviewed by Anastasia Sikorski,

the site continues to introduce you to online job search services. Now it's time to talk about Ukrainian and Belarusian sites.

Although remote work and freelancing are not the same thing. But many freelancers, struggling with bread and water, are looking for a permanent project, permanent income. Those. stable remote work.

Similar projects can be found on freelance exchanges. But it is much more likely to find your dream job on online job search resources.

Ukraine

The largest Ukrainian portal for job search in the network. You can search by headings, by the list of popular professions or by city. There is an advanced search with the "Remote work" parameter.

If you want to increase your chances of finding a decent job - leave a resume.

The search results show the last vacancies for 30 days. For example, I found 103 “deleted” vacancies in copywriting, including those in foreign companies.


A very convenient site for finding a job. There is an advanced search, the ability to create a resume. The service offers interesting statistics on professions in demand in Ukraine and the average salary level.

More than a thousand vacancies were found for the query "remote work". Mostly they are looking for managers of various kinds.


There are about 57 thousand active vacancies on the site. A separate section contains work for students.

You can search for work by section or city.

Almost fifteen hundred vacancies were found for the request "Remote work". They are looking for SEO specialists, translators, project managers, designers, etc.


On the main page of the service - "hot vacancies". According to the site's statistics, home services workers are most needed.

Standard set: search bar, vacancy catalog, resume. There are not many “remote” vacancies - there were 125 offers: mostly developers, translators, managers.

The site has a "Training" section with a list of current trainings and courses, as well as a blog with useful articles.


Unfortunately, this resource does not have an advanced search with the required "Remote Work" parameter. But this is one of the largest portals in Ukraine, and among the offers for your profile, you will definitely find a suitable one for your work schedule.

I would like to note that wages are also offered here more generous than on previous services.

To search, use the search box or the job catalog. You can also create a resume and subscribe to the mailing of new vacancies according to your profile.

Belarus


The site contains over a million resumes and almost 11 thousand vacancies. Immediately on the main page, you can see the latest offers, and in which city they are looking for an employee.

Among the offers come across from foreign companies; looking for developers, sales managers, coursework authors.


The site contains more than five thousand vacancies. They offer to search for work by areas, cities and professions. You can also use advanced search, but there is no filter by the parameter "Remote work". But there are vacancies for specialists in popular freelance spheres: designers, copywriters, developers.

You can contact the employer by phone or e-mail - this data is in almost every ad.

It is possible to add a resume and wait for someone to contact you.


This job market offer portal also gives you the opportunity to submit your resume. The main page displays the vacancies of the leading companies.

An advanced search, a catalog of vacancies and a new job search function by map (for those who want to work within their city) will help to search for a job.

Advanced search allows you to set a lot of parameters. Up to the distance from home to office.

If you are interested in freelancing, in the "Schedule" field, indicate "At home". As in other similar portals, they are looking for sales managers, designers, SMM, etc.


This site is simple in design and has a convenient structure. Here remote work is placed on the main page, with a link to a separate directory. There are more than a thousand similar proposals: consultants, operators, programmers, managers, internet marketers, etc.

New vacancies are just on the main page. To find a suitable one, use the advanced search, and here you will also have to specify the "Work from home" parameter.

Managers, programmers, designers will be able to choose from several tempting offers.

Employers are encouraged to leave a vacancy or look for a suitable candidate by rummaging through their resume (there are more than 113 thousand of them in the catalog).

These resources can help you find a remote or home-based job that is right for the price and conditions. To increase your chances of success, post your resume on several sites at once, subscribe to the newsletter, and periodically look for fresh vacancies.

Good luck finding the perfect job!

 

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