To be a freelancing passporter using a laptop sounds like the bees knees doesn’t it? Wake up in Portugal, invoice a client in Canada, then send a project to someone in Singapore. All set. But before you settle so comfortably under the palm tree with the flat white in hand, there’s one thing that never goes away when you move from the home country: remaining on the right side of the law.
If you’re jumping between time zones or bedding down somewhere for the long term, being legally employed as a digital nomad requires rather more than ensuring your internet connection is rock solid. Let’s get it down on the ground, no scaremongering about the jargon, just useful advice for remaining compliant when freelancing around the world.
Check Visa Requirements Before You Open Your Laptop
Tourist status almost never carries the right to work, although the coffee corner of your office may just do. Most states now provide digital nomad facilitation sites for each destination country. Check if “working remotely for overseas customers” is permissible and make note of registration requirements on entry. Save screenshots of the regulation, approval messages and entry stamp with travel documents.
Be Aware of Tax Liability
What you do where you live may decide where you pay. Pass the 183-day barrier in most countries, and you could become a resident for tax. Some tax globally earned income, some locally sourced income only, and some foreign income on total exemption. Double tax agreements may avoid tax twice, but only on the right claim. UK freelancers also need to consider Statutory Residence Tests, split year treatment and National Insurance contributions. Document a day count log, business bank accounts separate, and invest in an accountant who sees cross-border cases.
Maintain Contracts and Invoices, Simple and Uniform
Stated paperwork insulates both sides. Specify scope, milestones, IP ownership, payment time, indemnities and dispute resolution. Select the governing law and jurisdiction that you realistically accept. For regular retainers, include service levels and exit clauses. Invoices show legal names, registered addresses, tax IDs where applicable, and money. Some states require sequential numbering or certain language, so develop templates conforming thereto. Keep signed originals and receipts within an organized, searchable system.
Know GDPR and Data Legislation
Treat client data responsibly. Use well-qualified cloud software providing data processing agreements, turn on two-factor authentication, and limit access to the bare minimum. Should you work with others, establish the roles in writing and agree on who the controller or processor is. An example of passing on the spot might be working together with the SEO agencies in Kent on the assets holding the personal data, requiring clear lines.
Don’t Hope for Fortune, Get Covered
Breach of disclosure, an infected file, a client who complains about losses on the heels of your recommendation. Professional indemnity insurance might just come to the rescue of errors and omissions, public liability for third-party claims, and cyber cover for breach management. Be sure to check location coverage, retrodates, clauses for sub-contractors and evidence of income clauses. Keep certificates handy on client onboarding. Check the limit annually as the fees go up, and document internal security practices so as to pay a reasonable premium.
Stay Adaptable, But Clever
It depends on the law, but the right practice cross-grades. Sort out the visas, calculate the number of days, negotiate narrow-sleeved contracts, safeguard the data, and ensure the basics. Add a transportable advisory bench and reconsider decisions when the base, the services or the turnover is modified. Liberty still has to stay the objective, but sustainability is the route.
