Belgium: umbrella companies

[Pepso]

ITECS doesn't have a Belgian solution for me as I am a Belgian resident.They will take me on their payroll and I would pay full social security+ full tax+ their fee.

I am Belgian resident too. The problem for me is that my agency does not accept the direct invoicing. They oblige me to go through a management company or to create my own SPRL.
The life of contractors in Belgium is becoming more and more difficult!!!!
May be the best solution is the SPRL??
Let me know if anyone is aware of different solutions.

[Brussels Slumdog]

I am Belgian resident too. The problem for me is that my agency does not accept the direct invoicing. They oblige me to go through a management company or to create my own SPRL.
The life of contractors in Belgium is becoming more and more difficult!!!!
May be the best solution is the SPRL??
Let me know if anyone is aware of different solutions.

Will you always remain a Belgian resident like me as I am married to a Belgian
or will you one day go back to your own country ie UK.

Tell the agency that Belgian management companies don't exist and that foreign ones are not an option for Belgian residents.
In Belgium you have the option of being self-employed
http://www.inasti.be/en/selfemployed/index.htm
or SPRL

When you register as self employed you receive a VAT (TVA) number so
why is that a problem for a agency.

I am currently learning Dutch ,as I used to speak afrikaans, while sitting on the bench so I have not yet had this problem. I have spent more time working outside Belgium which is not a problem for me as I have no young children of my own and my wifes son is at Uni.
I think you need a minimum capital of about €6000 for your own SPRL and the
start up costs are higher.
One way maybe would be to set up a UK company and work as follows:-
Invoice say the UK agency your gross fees say €8000 from your UK company.
You as a Belgian self empoyed person invoice your UK company for €7000-€8000.
You declare the €7000-€8000 in Belgium. After paying a UK accountant and any other legal deductions you can think of plus a small UK salary your UK company makes zero profit.

[CyranoB]

I am Belgian resident too. The problem for me is that my agency does not accept the direct invoicing. They oblige me to go through a management company or to create my own SPRL.
The life of contractors in Belgium is becoming more and more difficult!!!!
May be the best solution is the SPRL??
Let me know if anyone is aware of different solutions.

I don't understand why they don't want you to bill them as a freelancer, as you get a company number and a VAT number. Actually I not even sure they can see the difference between a freelance and a SPRL from the VAT number.

Tax wise the only solution left to contract legally for a long time in Belgium is a SPRL.
And yes it's becoming a real pain to be a contractor in Belgium.

[Pepso]

I don't understand why they don't want you to bill them as a freelancer, as you get a company number and a VAT number. Actually I not even sure they can see the difference between a freelance and a SPRL from the VAT number.

I do not understand the reason too!! They do not want to deal directly with freelancers. I am investigating the possibility to create a SCS company here in Belgium, which does not need the initial 6K EUR.

[ace00]

I do not understand the reason too!! They do not want to deal directly with freelancers. I am investigating the possibility to create a SCS company here in Belgium, which does not need the initial 6K EUR.

Same here. I believe it is because clientco do not have a HR department, or rather they do, but it is their job to look nice and drink coffee, so they could not possibly manage such things as employee tax etc.

[Brussels Slumdog]

A limited partnership (société en commandite simple)

I do not understand the reason too!! They do not want to deal directly with freelancers. I am investigating the possibility to create a SCS company here in Belgium, which does not need the initial 6K EUR.

Thanks,
I was not aware of an SCS options. How does this work regarding tax and social security.

[CyranoB]

I do not understand the reason too!! They do not want to deal directly with freelancers. I am investigating the possibility to create a SCS company here in Belgium, which does not need the initial 6K EUR.

One possibility could be they're afraid of being accused of disguised employment for long term contract. Being a freelancer with only one client is more or less forbidden and seen as a way to pay less social security taxes.
I'm not sure of what a SCS would impact tax wise but to my understand it's legally very different.

[Pepso]

One possibility could be they're afraid of being accused of disguised employment for long term contract. Being a freelancer with only one client is more or less forbidden and seen as a way to pay less social security taxes.

I share your point of view! They are afraid to deal with the consequences of long term contracts.
Here some info about SCS companies: http://www.belgium.be/fr/economie/en...e_societe/scs/

[Rialto99]

Same here. I believe it is because clientco do not have a HR department, or rather they do, but it is their job to look nice and drink coffee, so they could not possibly manage such things as employee tax etc.

Spot on!

[candyflipper]

Being a freelancer with only one client is more or less forbidden and seen as a way to pay less social security taxes.

From what I understand, freelancing pays the same in the end.

So social security is 25% (for freelancers) rather than 35%+13.07% (for employees under an umbrella), but the standard deduction for freelancing is half that of salaried income. And doesn't VAT somehow come into play with freelancing?

Belgian umbrellas are quoting the same about the same retention percentage for freelancing through them as being employed by them. So it would indeed be interesting to know what all is making up for the ~23% in reduced social security.

Umbrella companies that offer employed solutions tend to say professional cards are almost impossible to acquire in Belgium, and that it's a 6 month process. Umbrella companies who only offer the freelance option claim it's a simple 2-3 week relatively risk-free process.