Amina
- 2018-03-29
Hi, thanks for your response! Well, actually, I am in EU, so I will definitely have to deal with VAT)) But as for other countries, I asked the tax specialist on global taxes, and I was told that since it is not a digital service (where your student just streams pre-recorded videos or download a ready-made course - with that you have to be really careful especially for EU sales) and it is not physical goods, I don't have to think about sales taxes in other countries. Well, except for EU. This is a service and it doesn't physically cross the border.
I mean I am still not a 100% sure that this is all true, because that tax specialist was from EU... but she works remotely as a consultant herself for clients from various countries, so at least she knows the rules better than I do 
And as I understand, no one bothers with this on a regular basis
If I find out something else, I'll post here.
Taffy
- 2018-03-29
I had the same question when I started teaching online a few years ago (but I am American, so it solves the problem).
As apple pie, eh? Hahaha! Give our very best to Fifi if you see her.
Latina in LA
- 2018-03-29
I had the same question when I started teaching online a few years ago (but I am American, so it solves the problem).
My suggestion: On the Private Tutors board of this site, you will see a tab called "Students/Tutors Portals" http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/tutors/index.pl?&filter=typeid&typeid=9#bbs Some portals are based in Europe, China, Korea, US, etc. If you chose the ones that are based in Europe - we can assume that they cater to European students - you can ask them 1 or 2 simple questions like "If I post my resume on your portal, and I get students from Europe, do I have to register for VAT with the EU?" One of them might answer.
The alternative is asking the question to the EU (I know, I know, you will need some good luck and a lot of patience). You can do this anonymously.
Whatever you learn, if you have time to post some info here, it would help other online tutors as I am sure everybody is confronted with the same question at some point.
Amina
- 2018-03-29
Hi, Thanks for your response! Yes, I absolutely agree about income tax - that you need to pay in the country where you live or have a citizenship (well, USA has more strict rules, but I am not a US citizen).
My concerns are more about sales taxes (VAT, GST and whatever other names they have). I am form EU, and in EU we need to pay sales tax (VAT) when we sell services to any EU country. And when someone sells physical goods to EU (not sure about services though) the seller needs to be registered for VAT in EU, no matter where the sale comes from. When I learned about this EU rule, I thought that there may be similar rules in other countries. I've done some research and it turns out that there are actually sales taxes in almost all the countries, but you need to pay those only when you reach a sales limit, which is usually quite high.
As I understand, in practice, no one registers for sales taxes in other countries. And there are no services that can do this for you which is a sign that you don't actually need to do this. But still I am not sure about all this. The rules are usually very clear about e-services (like selling music, or ebooks, or downloadable courses) and physical goods. But when it comes to distance teaching, it's not so clear. By the way, for e-services when you really need to register for sales tax in every country you sell, there quite a few services that do it for you.
Taffy
- 2018-03-29
China is so full of pirated software - including Windows. Could well be that you will have a virus on your PC if you are stupid enough to use it!
I agree damned good point- you need to be as dim as a toch-H lamp to use Windows in China; unless you is some sort of masochist who enjoys being spied on. Get yourself a free copy of linux, Ubuntu, Solus, Mint, somat like those and then download your Wechat for Linux, otherwise you'll become a closet DIY jerker like a few on this forum. During the QQ-period and QQ for Linux didn't work too well but Wechat does.
Taffy
- 2018-03-29
Please don't open the link below, but just in case you/some of our readers are interested, here it is: "United States Income Tax Treaties - A to Z"
Ah, I see "if the treaty does not cover a certain type of income" It appears that these, not good friends, not even half friends but mere acquaintances of mine who are American are earning the wrong type of income and must continue to pay.
God forbid
- 2018-03-29
China is so full of pirated software - including Windows. Could well be that you will have a virus on your PC if you are stupid enough to use it!
Observer
- 2018-03-29
Please don't open the link below, but just in case you/some of our readers are interested, here it is: "United States Income Tax Treaties - A to Z"
Taffy
- 2018-03-29
t most certainly has nothing to do with the country where your students are located.
It has to do with your own country of residence (or in the case of the US, country of citizenship).
If you are American, I believe you have to pay taxes on your worldwide income even if you are not residing in America except for the tax treaties that the US has with a lot of countries where you wouldn't have to pay the IRS if you legally paid taxes in another country that has a treaty, but I am not 100% sure about that.
Tell a Friend
There's a few Americans here that I barely know but they have told me that they still have to cough up to the American treasury. They are all teaching in this country so will have to pay PAYE.They wouldn't consider me a friend, so it might be rude if I quizzed them further. I was interested by your 'treaty'
You'd think Microsoft could bring the Internet to its knees in China. They all use Fake Windows, and doesn't sKype also belong to Microsoft?
Observer
- 2018-03-29
It most certainly has nothing to do with the country where your students are located.
It has to do with your own country of residence (or in the case of the US, country of citizenship).
If you are American, I believe you have to pay taxes on your worldwide income even if you are not residing in America except for the tax treaties that the US has with a lot of countries where you wouldn't have to pay the IRS if you legally paid taxes in another country that has a treaty, but I am not 100% sure about that.
Hi! The question is for ESL teachers who teach by Skype. I plan to register as self-employed and start teaching online (not English, but no difference), and I am so confused with all the tax info I have to deal with now 
So the question is: how do you handle your non-EU clients? If I have a student from, say, India. Do I really need to check Indian GST rules (which is like VAT in EU)?? And this I have to do for each country my client happens to be from? Or am I overthinking? I found some great services that handle all the tax issues, but they only do this for digital services. Any advice?