Micro-businesses’ place in the scheme of things and VAT
The MicroEnterprise Journal defines a micro-business as
a business that is so small that no one person working in the business (including the business owner) performs only one task or job for the business, and in which all persons working in the business are responsible for multiple areas of management, production, sales and administration.
I’m even more micro than that – like most of us who are one-man-bands. And with spring in the air and the call of wakening nature there just are not enough hours in the day, even though there are fewer orders in the book.
I cut this from the Small Business website and although it refers to US Micros, the situation seems to be very similar to that here in Denmark –
Until recently, the economic role played by microbusinesses was not well understood by either economists or policy makers. However, more recent research is promising in its segmentation of firms by size class and its attention to the differences between microbusinesses and non-micro small firms.
For example, a recently released data set from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics found that microbusiness employers are less severely impacted by economic downturns in terms of net job loss/creation. Thus, these very small businesses act as “shock absorbers” for the labor market during downturns and recessions.
But, maybe the Danish government is beginning to grasp just how important we Micros are. The present financial crisis prompted the government to allow an extended VAT- repayment period – but not for micros.
Protests about the way this really punished the thousands of Danish micros had immediate effect, we have been granted a substantial period of time for the registration and payment of VAT!