What is VAT return?
When you start working as a student freelancer, you have to pay VAT on your revenue - your revenue is essentially your hourly rate X how many hours you worked. So if your hourly rate is 20 euro and you worked 10 hours this month, your monthly revenue is 200 euro. The company that you work for, gets charged 21% VAT on top of that amount. You might ask, doesn’t that mean I am losing money? No, absolutely not. The amount of money you were given by your client is your revenue (your hourly rate) plus money to be used for your VAT return (21% on TOP of your hourly rate). This amount can be found in your invoice, so you always know how much to put aside for this reason.

When do I file VAT returns?
This happens every quarter, on fixed dates. To do this, you fill out your revenue and then use the appropriate portion of the money you were paid to then pay the Tax authorities. The following dates apply for quarterly returns, so be sure to fill out your tax return before the following:This happens every quarter, on fixed dates. To do this, you fill out your revenue and then use the appropriate portion of the money you were paid to then pay the Tax authorities. The following dates apply for quarterly returns, so be sure to fill out your tax return before the following:
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Quarter 1 (January until March): Deadline April 30th
Quarter 2 (April until June): Deadline July 31st
Quarter 3 (July until September): Deadline October 31st
Quarter 4 (October until December): Deadline January 31st
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Have you been away from the freelancing world for a bit, or otherwise not worked for some time? Then you still have to declare €0 on your VAT form! Make sure you do this to avoid a fine for not declaring your taxes, even if it is zero.
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I need help with my tax returns
Read this handy article for a step-by-step guide on how to file your taxes.