# Employee or Contractor?



## taff

We're looking into the wife working as a freelancer. The problem is the employee status and what to expect with regard to income tax liabilities.
Does anyone know what would constitute an employment contact in Germany.
In the UK a sub-contractor can be deemed an employee (for income tax purposes) if they only have 1 customer, work regular hours and receive a bonus or other benefits (obviously there are more but the afroementned are the main issue).
I assume this applies in Germany but her business is not likely to generate more then one customer for a prolonged period, any advice is greatly appreciated.


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## Bevdeforges

No doubt the rules have changed since I was last living in Germany, but the big issue for Germany has always been the social insurances rather than the income tax. The German employment contracts work a bit more like the French ones than like the UK ones - they basically distinguish between a "full time permanent" contract and a "short term limited contract" but in both cases you are considered an employee. 

You know one place to ask about this sort of thing would be the Arbeitsamt (the office that handles unemployment claims). They very often try to set people up as independent businesses when they go on unemployment - and they would certainly know what registrations, etc. are required.
Cheers,
Bev


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