Dang furriners and the IRD

[Kevin McLauchlan <KMcLauchlan -at- CHRYSALIS-ITS -dot- COM>]

Hello all.

There's been a bit of talk, on the list lately, about person-corporation,
corporation-corporation interactions, with a fair bit of reference to
American homegrown versions of the collective thug.  I refer, of
course to the IRD (Infernal Revenue Disservice) and to specific
extraction schemes (I believe they're called 1099 and w-9, in
reference to the form-names?) and the various state-level
equivalents of the federal thuggee.

I'm assuming other countries have similar formalized collaborative
arrangements for appeasing the thugs, simply using different names.
Whether using the Americanized references or not, this is relevant to a
great many list members, because so many are either not currently
captive employees, or are considering the status.

Now, my question to anybody is (from whatever country you call
your own), what do the thugs require of you if you purchase either
a product or a service from beyond your borders?  For that matter,
does it matter if the purchased item is one or the other (product
or service)?

For example, if you got a translation done offshore, does your
country tax one of the parties (you or your supplier?). Similarly,
if you purchase some software, say by download, are you
expected to declare the transaction and pay taxes or customs fees,
even though no physical object crossed a border?

And finally, to the meat of the matter, is there anything in place to
prevent a person from taking up residence on some low-tax/no-tax
island and selling either a service -- technical writing -- or a product
-- technically-written material -- to companies in your country?

Do the thugs still try to rake off "their share" or to discourage you
or other companies from obtaining products or services, as
described?  What are the hitches? Workarounds?

Thanks.

I'm thinking this topic stays within the pale of techwr-l because
this industry in particular seems both poised to do it, and likely
to be pushed into it in the near future.

That is, I see these trends:

1) convenience and cost (i.e., physical-plant overhead)
    considerations will encourage more remote working arrangements

2) technology continues to enable greater independence of our
   kind of worker (data medium)

3) globalization of our host (employing) industries and of their
    markets -- and supplier links -- is also pushing commerce in
    the direction that physical locality of a supplier is almost immaterial,

    so long as she speaks the relevant language(s), and is reliable.

 Hm?

Kevin McLauchlan
kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com    (aka  kevinmcl -at- netrover -dot- com)
Techy writer, duffer skydiver, full-time unrepentant chocoholic


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