When people here talk about working for foreign clients, everyone pictures developers. Yet half the people who come to us write about as much code as we do: they edit video, run campaigns, write copy, teach English to Spaniards, design logos for Canadian startups, sell on Etsy. In tax terms their situation is almost identical to the one in IT. What differs is the vocabulary and the occasional detail that turns out to be expensive.
Who our remote clients are
- Marketing and advertising
- Graphic and UI design
- Video editing and animation
- Copywriting and content
- Translators
- Online teaching and tutoring
- Consulting
- Virtual assistants
- Engineering and design
- Photography and retouching
- E-commerce and Amazon
- Content creators
- Customer support
- Sales and lead generation
If you are not on the list, that means nothing. The list is not the point; the foreign-currency income is. If you work in IT, your page is here.
What is the same as for developers
Almost everything. The same choice between the freelancer regime, flat-rate tax, personal salary and an LLC. The same 6 million limit for flat-rate and the same 8 million threshold for VAT. The same rules on foreign-currency income, exchange rates and rate differences. The same independence test if you work for a single client. The overview of all of it sits on the working with clients abroad page.
What is different
The activity code is not a formality
For flat-rate entrepreneurs the code directly determines what you pay, and for some activities, trade above all, flat-rate is not available at all. In IT the choice is usually obvious; in remote work there is often a thin line between two codes with very different price tags.
Goods are not services
If you sell a physical product, dropship or run Amazon FBA, imports, customs and other countries' VAT rules enter the picture. That is no longer the same job as invoicing a service, and it needs preparation up front.
Copyright and licensing
Photos, music, illustration, stock material, courses. Income from licensing and royalties from abroad has its own treatment, different from an ordinary service.
Barter and gifts
Content creators often receive a product or a service instead of money. That is not free in tax terms, and it is usually the first thing people forget.
The most common activity codes among remote clients
| Code | Activity | Who usually uses it |
|---|---|---|
| 7311 | Advertising agencies | Marketing, advertising, campaigns |
| 7410 | Specialised design activities | Graphic and UI design, branding |
| 5911 | Motion picture and audiovisual production | Video editing, animation, production |
| 7430 | Translation and interpretation | Translators, localisation, subtitling |
| 7022 | Business and management consultancy | Consultants, project managers, strategy |
| 8559 | Other education | Online teaching, tutoring, courses |
| 7021 | Public relations and communication | PR, community and social media |
| 7420 | Photographic activities | Photographers, retouching, stock photography |
| 8299 | Other business support services | Virtual assistants, admin, support |
| 4791 | Retail sale via mail order or internet | Web shops, Etsy, Amazon |
The list is indicative. We choose the code together, based on what you actually do, because it drives both the amount of flat-rate tax and whether flat-rate taxation is available at all.
What it costs
You can see the rough monthly flat-rate tax for your code and municipality right away in the flat-rate tax calculator. If you have not registered yet, compare it with the freelancer calculation; plenty of people are surprised to find that staying unregistered is still the better deal for now. Our fee for keeping the books is in the pricing.
Frequently asked questions
I am not in IT. Is my situation the same as a developer's?
In tax terms, largely yes. The difference is the activity code, and for flat-rate entrepreneurs the code affects how much flat-rate tax you pay. Everything else, foreign-currency income, the VAT threshold, the independence test and the choice between flat-rate, personal salary and an LLC, works identically.
Which activity code should I choose?
The one that genuinely describes what you do, because it determines both the amount of flat-rate tax and whether flat-rate taxation is available at all. For some activities, trade above all, flat-rate is not possible and you go straight to full books. We pick the code together before you register, since changing it later is possible but a needless hassle.
I earn from YouTube, TikTok and sponsorships. How is that handled?
Payouts from Google, Meta and similar platforms are foreign income like any other and are recorded at the exchange rate on the day they arrive. Sponsorships and brand deals are invoiced, to Serbian brands in the usual way and to foreign ones as an export of services. Gifted products and barter arrangements have their own treatment too, and that is what people forget most often.
I sell through Etsy, Amazon or my own store. Does that belong here?
It does, but it is more involved than services. Goods bring in customs, imports, dropshipping and another country's VAT rules, and flat-rate taxation is not available for trade. We look at those cases individually, before you start selling.
I teach online to students abroad. Do I need a registered business?
If it is occasional and the income is modest, the freelancer regime with a quarterly return is usually enough and cheaper. Once the lessons become a regular job, or once you work through a platform that requires an invoice, registering starts to pay off. We can calculate where that line falls for you.
I work through a foreign agency that treats me as a permanent collaborator. How risky is that?
That is a textbook independence-test situation: one client, their working hours, their tools. The test applies to all entrepreneurs, both flat-rate and personal-salary, while an LLC is not subject to it. We assess the risk up front and look at what can be changed in the contract and in how you actually work.
Working remotely for clients abroad?
Tell us what you do and roughly what you earn, and we will tell you straight away what suits you and what the next step is. The conversation and the assessment cost nothing.
Book a consultation Overview: working with clients abroadNote: the content of this page is informational and does not constitute tax or legal advice.