Self-employment
In other words, the trading is likely to be ignored if there is no profit, so occasional and hobby- or enthusiast-based economic activity is generally ignored by tax authorities.
In the United States, immigrants tend to have higher rates of self-employment than native-born Americans regardless of race or ethnicity.
Immigrants and their children who self-identify as White have the highest probability of self-employment in lucrative industries such as professional services and finance.
However, the second-generation children of Asian immigrants may continue to seek self-employment in a variety of industries and occupations.
Many set up a Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP) IRA, which allows them to contribute up to 25% of their income, up to $54,000 (2017) per year.
[9] Research has shown that levels of self-employment in the United States are increasing, and that under certain circumstances this can have positive effects on per capita income and job creation.
According to a 2017 study by MBO Partners, the self-employed workforce generates $1.2 trillion in revenue for the U.S. economy, which is equal to about 6% of national GDP.
[10] A 2011 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Pennsylvania State University looked at U.S. self-employment levels from 1970 to 2000.
[13] The European Commission defines a self-employed person as someone: "pursuing a gainful activity for their own account, under the conditions laid down by national law".
This definition comes from Directive 2010/41/EU[14] on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in an activity in a self-employed capacity.
In addition, Article 53 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for the free movement of those taking up and pursuing activities as self-employed people.
As indicated by the European Commission in 2010,[16] there are "different understandings and definitions of the term self-employment across the countries, with a number of different subcategories defined: for instance, according to the legal status of the enterprise, whether the business has employees or not (employers versus own-account workers) and/or the sector in which the business operates.
Schijnzelfstandigheid can lead to legal issues, as it is considered an abuse of labor laws designed to protect workers.
In recent years, many countries, including the Netherlands, have tightened regulations to prevent and address this problem, seeking to ensure that workers who should be classified as employees are not wrongly treated as independent contractors.
As indicated by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) in 2014, the diversity of the self-employed has attracted diverse forms of regulation, mainly decided at national level: "EU employment law addresses the self-employed mainly in narrowly specific areas such as free movement and equal treatment".
If the self-employed person holds records of customers or suppliers in any electronic form they are required to register with the Information Commissioner's Office.
Other legal responsibilities include statutory public liability insurance cover, modifying premises to be disabled-friendly, and the proper recording and accounting of financial transactions.
[22]: 5 The Office for National Statistics has observed that information on levels of income from self-employment is limited and largely comes from surveys.
