When you earn income from a secondary occupation, this is added to your gross annual earnings as an employee. Your self-employment income, therefore, falls in your highest tax bracket, and sometimes even in the next tax bracket. 

But the news isn’t all bad. If you keep good records of the professional expenses you incur in your secondary occupation, you’ll get to keep more of that income.

Conditions for part-time self-employment

If you want to be self-employed in a secondary occupation, you need to work at least half-time in your main occupation as an employee. Since you already pay social security contributions via your salary, the additional contributions you need to pay for your secondary occupation are much lower. 

However, taxes on your self-employed income can add up fast, which can leave you feeling like you’re earning almost nothing.

Professional expenses when you’re part-time self-employed 

The more expenses you attribute to your secondary occupation, the more VAT you recover, and the lower the final amount used to calculate your personal income tax. 

However, ‘incurring expenses’ doesn’t mean suddenly starting to make unnecessary purchases, as this will simply reduce your net earnings. Instead, it’s better to take a serious look at your current spending. Which expenses will help you develop your activity and can therefore be considered as business expenses? 

Being smart about your business expenses will reduce your taxable income, but there’s also another advantage: anything that has already been paid by your business doesn’t have to come out of your net salary. So if you’re shocked at how little you have left from your side hustle, remember that some of your regular bills have already been paid in the meantime.

Accountable helps you keep track of expenses

Often, it’s possible to deduct more expenses than you initially thought. Want to make sure you’re not forgetting anything? Complete this questionnaire, and who knows, you might discover some additional savings. 

Now that you have a clear overview of your expenses as a self-employed person in a secondary occupation, upload them quickly and easily via Accountable. Before you know it, you’ll be recovering more VAT and paying less tax. 

Curious? Try our app for free.