Living Abroad in Europe and very small business

Hi all,

Overseas Resident here basically fully supported by my partner as I don't work, but now I have a really small online shop and declare myself self employed even though it currently only makes about 200 euro profit per month, so while I do have this small income, I am for all intents and purposes still fully supported by my partner. To put it simply, I am a housewife with a very small business that does not yet earn much.

However, if I want to tick the box saying "self employed" for the annual Evidence Information Sheet, it of course wants proof of earnings.

It states:

1) Send us copies of your most recent financial accounts confirming your gross annual income (invoices are not acceptable evidence)
OR
2) Send us a letter from your accountant confirming your gross annual income

So - I do not have an accountant, it would be crazy for me to pay an accountant when the business only brings in 200 euro per month. I do my own bookkeeping and have my own profit and loss account and it's just an Etsy shop I have.

I don't know what they mean by "most recent financial accounts" - like, i'm happy to send them my spreadsheets on a PDF but i'm not sure if that would be ok?

I don't really even know what they mean by financial accounts. I've tried googling it everywhere but not too sure what financial accounts I can give them - Etsy does not provide complete financial accounts.

I'm hoping someone at SLC will help! I would e-mail them but of course there's no e-mail address for these kind of questions so hopefully can get an answer here.

I don't want to put that i'm "Not in Employment" on the form because that seems wrong. I am registered as self-employed and will state this when I file my annual taxes (which happens in February 2025 now).

Reply 1

Angela SFE

Official Rep

Original post by PTSunrise

Hi all,
Overseas Resident here basically fully supported by my partner as I don't work, but now I have a really small online shop and declare myself self employed even though it currently only makes about 200 euro profit per month, so while I do have this small income, I am for all intents and purposes still fully supported by my partner. To put it simply, I am a housewife with a very small business that does not yet earn much.
However, if I want to tick the box saying "self employed" for the annual Evidence Information Sheet, it of course wants proof of earnings.
It states:
1) Send us copies of your most recent financial accounts confirming your gross annual income (invoices are not acceptable evidence)
OR
2) Send us a letter from your accountant confirming your gross annual income
So - I do not have an accountant, it would be crazy for me to pay an accountant when the business only brings in 200 euro per month. I do my own bookkeeping and have my own profit and loss account and it's just an Etsy shop I have.
I don't know what they mean by "most recent financial accounts" - like, i'm happy to send them my spreadsheets on a PDF but i'm not sure if that would be ok?
I don't really even know what they mean by financial accounts. I've tried googling it everywhere but not too sure what financial accounts I can give them - Etsy does not provide complete financial accounts.
I'm hoping someone at SLC will help! I would e-mail them but of course there's no e-mail address for these kind of questions so hopefully can get an answer here.
I don't want to put that i'm "Not in Employment" on the form because that seems wrong. I am registered as self-employed and will state this when I file my annual taxes (which happens in February 2025 now).

Hi there, What form are you completing? Thanks, Angela

Reply 2

PTSunrise

Hi, well it will be the "update your current overseas employment details" form.

They usually send me a letter once a year right around Dec/Jan time requesting an update and for all the previous years my husband is declared as third party support. But now I want to tick Self-Employed, even though it's a very small hobby Etsy shop.

This is regarding an old plan 1 loan from 2005.

Edit: to just add something I've realized I can send an Income Statement that is an official statement from the government, but it would be for 2023, I can't get a 2024 one until next year, and the language is not English. Would that be accepted? It literally shows my entire (very small) income for 2023 that came from the self tax assessment