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Poll: Have you received financial support from your government due to the Covid-19 economic crisis?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Rules Jul 26, 2020

Dan Lucas wrote:
As a freelance translator?! What's the background to that, then?

Because we work in a separate building to the house.

As a small business, we don’t actually pay any rates though.

I didn’t make up the rules...


 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:19
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Blimey Jul 27, 2020

Chris S wrote:
Because we work in a separate building to the house.
As a small business, we don’t actually pay any rates though.
I didn’t make up the rules...

Fair enough, but there's no rhyme or reason to it, is there. We'll be (collectively) paying for this casual spraying around of "free" money for many, many years. And the tax burden is already at multi-decade highs. This won't end well.

Dan


DZiW (X)
 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 23:19
Spanish to English
+ ...
Taff luck Jul 27, 2020

Go for it, mate. If YOU don't get it as a legit going concern, they might just throw it out to one of those caravanners by default. Ten grand? A new caravan, and plenty of change left over for six packs of Newkie Brown and Carlsberg Special. Not to mention a stash of Leb Red and Alaskan Thunderf__k. Bollocks to that. Serious dosh for a serious business.

Christopher Schröder
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 23:19
French to English
. Jul 27, 2020

My direct clients and end clients are mostly museums, tourist boards, event organisers, art galleries, caterers, hotels and restaurants. They were all closed during lockdown so I got practically no work during that time. I qualified for two lump sums in April and May since I could show that my income had plummeted. For March I only worked for two weeks in 2019 so my income was basically the same in 2020.

Those sneering at handouts might pause to think of those who found themselves
... See more
My direct clients and end clients are mostly museums, tourist boards, event organisers, art galleries, caterers, hotels and restaurants. They were all closed during lockdown so I got practically no work during that time. I qualified for two lump sums in April and May since I could show that my income had plummeted. For March I only worked for two weeks in 2019 so my income was basically the same in 2020.

Those sneering at handouts might pause to think of those who found themselves destitute without their pay during the lockdown. I was not destitute, since my partner was still earning money and I had wisely saved up for times when I might not be able to work. So I used the government aid to pay my cleaning lady even though she couldn't come to clean the house, and the time I couldn't do paid work I volunteered with two different charities, so I reckon French society got as much out of me as I got from the government.
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Dan Lucas
IrinaN
Marina Taffetani
Christopher Schröder
Philippe Etienne
ph-b (X)
Bernhard Sulzer
 
IrinaN
IrinaN
United States
Local time: 17:19
English to Russian
+ ...
Scuse me? Jul 27, 2020

darkokoporcic wrote:

I believe internet based businesses should be strictly excluded from any financial support by the government. It is a waste of public funds and an unnecessary burden for the ones that really suffered during the lockdown.


All taxpayers are born equal.


Marina Taffetani
Muriel Vasconcellos
TranslateWithMe
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Circular Jul 27, 2020

Dan Lucas wrote:
We'll be (collectively) paying for this casual spraying around of "free" money for many, many years. And the tax burden is already at multi-decade highs. This won't end well.


I’m surprised you look at it like that as an economist. It’s only money...

Anyway, a quarter of it will go straight back to the taxman. And if I blow the rest on a caravan in New Quay, a chunk of that will go to the taxman, and the remainder to deepest darkest Merthyr Tydfil, and so on.

[Edited at 2020-07-27 13:44 GMT]


Michael Harris
 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 23:19
Member (2006)
German to English
Got it within three weeks Jul 27, 2020

Dan Lucas wrote:

Chris S wrote:
Because we work in a separate building to the house.
As a small business, we don’t actually pay any rates though.
I didn’t make up the rules...

Fair enough, but there's no rhyme or reason to it, is there. We'll be (collectively) paying for this casual spraying around of "free" money for many, many years. And the tax burden is already at multi-decade highs. This won't end well.

Dan


I cannot uderstand people in general that if we get support in such bad times as this, the government locked down, not the economy! And DZiW, what about all of the large companies seeping up all of the funds that tey can get? The amount being awarded to us freelancers is a tiny piece of that cake. And what is better, to give us some leeway so that we can pay for other things, as Chris mentioned, or should we all go unemployed and the whole game costs a heck of a lot more? I find that the German government did a good job and is doing a good job up until now. I have payed almost 22€ in income tax each year over the past 12 years, if I get €9k that will and has helped me over a couple of months until things pick up again, then I am happy about that!
Obviously, if you (or me in that case) did not need to ask for these funds (and I would not have done) then that is great for you.


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 23:19
Spanish to English
+ ...
22 euros Jul 27, 2020

Talk about creative accounting. Don't waste time here, Michael, just explain how to do it in one of those self-help books, and you're quids in. And all tax-free.

[Edited at 2020-07-27 14:15 GMT]


Christopher Schröder
 
ph-b (X)
ph-b (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 23:19
English to French
+ ...
Government handouts Jul 27, 2020

Kay Denney wrote:

I reckon French society got as much out of me as I got from the government.


That's the wole point of these handouts, in France anyway: trying to get people and companies to keep going as much as possible. Being able to pay one's cleaning lady or to buy supplies for your company or to invest in it thanks to these handouts are two ways of supporting the economy as a whole.

Injecting money into the economy to help it weather difficult times and to pick up is not unlike the New Deal in the US. I'm no economist, but I'm not aware that the New Deal is seen as a failure.


Kay Denney
Bernhard Sulzer
 
RobinB
RobinB  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 17:19
German to English
PPP and EIDL Jul 27, 2020

I applied for and received a PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loan, which is both forgivable and untaxed, equivalent to ten weeks' payroll. I also obtained an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) equivalent to about 25% of annual business income, repayable over 30 years (and repayable by the borrower at any time without penalty).

I've been actively encouraging translators and interpreters in the US to apply for these loans (PPP in particular) if their business has been affected by
... See more
I applied for and received a PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loan, which is both forgivable and untaxed, equivalent to ten weeks' payroll. I also obtained an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) equivalent to about 25% of annual business income, repayable over 30 years (and repayable by the borrower at any time without penalty).

I've been actively encouraging translators and interpreters in the US to apply for these loans (PPP in particular) if their business has been affected by Covid-19, see e.g.

https://bit.ly/2OXfDIz

It has given me something useful to do after my business fell off a cliff in early April.

In June, I also presented a webinar on the subject of available government assistance, in which I made very clear:

“The number of freelancers able to weather an entire year without income can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand, and it certainly doesn’t include myself. I would say that two to three months is a good average, which means that plenty of colleagues have one to two months at most. Considering the downward spiral in prices that many freelancers have been facing in recent years, that’s neither surprising nor deserving of any … criticism."

"…I simply don’t understand why freelancers should be expected to have many months―or even a year’s―savings to tide them over, but it’s OK for larger companies, including incredibly wealthy companies who have spent billions in recent years buying back shares, to go cap in hand to the government."

"Nobody … should feel in the slightest bit ashamed or guilty about accepting financial support from federal or state authorities at a time like this. No freelancer should feel (or be made to feel!) that, just because they haven’t set aside a rainy day fund equivalent to six months’ earnings, they are in some way inferior or inadequate, that they have somehow failed as a freelancer."

And I'm delighted to report that, to my knowledge, hundreds of translators and interpreters in the US have applied for and received federal government support.
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Kay Denney
Barbara Cochran, MFA
Bernhard Sulzer
Marina Taffetani
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Irresponsible Jul 27, 2020

RobinB wrote:
No freelancer should feel (or be made to feel!) that, just because they haven’t set aside a rainy day fund equivalent to six months’ earnings, they are in some way inferior or inadequate, that they have somehow failed as a freelancer.


I disagree completely. All established freelance translators should have enough savings to see them through a year at least. Anything else is irresponsible.


DZiW (X)
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
 
Bernhard Sulzer
Bernhard Sulzer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:19
English to German
+ ...
I would laugh but ... Jul 27, 2020

Chris S wrote:

I disagree completely. All established freelance translators should have enough savings to see them through a year at least. Anything else is irresponsible.


... it's too sad. Who can go for a year with no income especially if you have family?! Are you being sarcastic? But why?


 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 06:19
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
Savings Jul 27, 2020

In my corner of the world, professionals making middle-class or better income are expected to have a year's savings. I personally would feel very uncomfortable with just a year's savings.

No, I don't have to support a family, and yes, I live in a tax haven. But I challenge anyone making at least $50K USD a year and say they can't save money to show me their expense records for a full year, and prove that they could not have saved even $5000.
Don't keep expense records?
... See more
In my corner of the world, professionals making middle-class or better income are expected to have a year's savings. I personally would feel very uncomfortable with just a year's savings.

No, I don't have to support a family, and yes, I live in a tax haven. But I challenge anyone making at least $50K USD a year and say they can't save money to show me their expense records for a full year, and prove that they could not have saved even $5000.
Don't keep expense records? Well, maybe that's the problem.
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Christopher Schröder
Dan Lucas
Maria Pia Giuseppina Nuzzolese
 
Bernhard Sulzer
Bernhard Sulzer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 18:19
English to German
+ ...
Reply Jul 27, 2020

Lincoln Hui wrote:

In my corner of the world, professionals making middle-class or better income are expected to have a year's savings. I personally would feel very uncomfortable with just a year's savings.

No, I don't have to support a family, and yes, I live in a tax haven. But I challenge anyone making at least $50K USD a year and say they can't save money to show me their expense records for a full year, and prove that they could not have saved even $5000.
Don't keep expense records? Well, maybe that's the problem.


Quit your insults.


 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:19
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Quite Jul 27, 2020

Lincoln Hui wrote:
But I challenge anyone making at least $50K USD a year and say they can't save money to show me their expense records for a full year, and prove that they could not have saved even $5000.

This. It's a choice to spend rather than save. If you're on the breadline, fine, you probably can't save. If you've got a decent income and living within your means, it should be possible. But you may have to have an overseas holiday once every two or three years instead of every year, and drive an older vehicle for a while instead of that Audi you wanted, and make your own meals instead of eating out or getting a takeaway every week. (On a different forum, I've been amazed to see how many people in the UK seem to do this, and then couldn't do it during lockdown, and found that they saved lots of money.)

If you did all that, you'd still be a very long way from denying yourself all the good things in life, and you'd also have a decent amount of savings to fall back on.

Dan


Liena Vijupe
Christopher Schröder
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
 
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Poll: Have you received financial support from your government due to the Covid-19 economic crisis?






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