Termination of self-employment
August 13, 2012 | 25,00 EUR | answered by Andreas Schupp
Dear Sir or Madam,
In 2010, I transitioned from being a freelance small business owner to a permanent employment, which I still hold today. In the process, I forgot to inform the tax office about the termination of my self-employment and to submit the profit determination for the year 2010. Upon inquiry from the tax office, I informed them that I had ceased my self-employment. Subsequently, I received a questionnaire regarding the termination of self-employment. My questions regarding this matter are:
1. What date should I specify as the termination of self-employment? The last invoice was issued when I was already one month into my employment. Should I use this date? Am I at risk of a fine due to the delayed notification?
2. For the profit determination for the year 2010, there are no receipts for expenses. The income amounts to less than 3000 Euros. Is it permissible to list 0 Euros under "expenses"?
Best regards,
Dear questioner,
Thank you for your inquiry, which I will answer taking into account your input. Please note that adding, omitting, or changing factual information could alter the tax result.
Regarding question 1:
The termination of self-employment occurs when you no longer perform any further activities on your own account. For example, if your last active self-employed service was provided in July 2010 and you invoiced in August 2010, then the end of the self-employment is in July 2010. The timing of invoicing is not relevant to the termination of self-employment. It may serve as an indication, but the cessation of activity is driven by the intent to terminate, which could have been decided before invoicing. When ending an activity, all income and expenses related to that activity should be recorded in the year of termination.
If you included your income in your 2010 tax return, there should be no consequences if you simply did not mention that you had ceased your activity. As a tax "layperson," you likely were not aware of the requirement to notify the tax authorities of the termination of your activity. If you submitted your entire tax return late, a late filing penalty is possible.
Regarding question 2:
If you had no expenses, it is permissible to enter 0,- €.
I hope my information has been helpful to you and remain
Yours sincerely
