The non-profit organisation (NPO) can call on a self-employed service provider to provide specific services such as consulting, technical tasks or temporary projects. This system provides the NPO with a lot of flexibility, since it can call on associates on an ad hoc basis, as opposed to hiring an employee on a long-term basis.
Implications for NPOs and self-employed workers
From the self-employed worker's point of view
Self-employed workers work for the NPO on the basis of a service contract. They issue invoices for their services and are not subject to the same rules as salaried employees: self-employed people work independently, without being subject to work regulations, fixed working hours or a pay scale.
A key point is that the self-employed person is fully responsible for the administrative management of their business. This includes payment of social security contributions, taxes and, where applicable, VAT. Further information on the social status of self-employed people is available on this page.
From the NPO's point of view
If the NPO is the self-employed person's only client, it is essential to consider the issue of "sham self-employment". If there is a clear hierarchical relationship between the self-employed person and the NPO ‒ for example, if the self-employed person receives precise instructions and does not operate autonomously ‒ their cooperation could be reclassified as salaried work. Such a reclassification would have significant social and tax consequences for the NPO, including retroactive regularisations.
As far as the NPO is concerned, the organisation receives an invoice from the self-employed person, which it then has to include in its accounts. If the NPO is not subject to VAT, it is, under certain conditions, obliged to submit tax sheet 281.50 to the tax authorities at the end of the financial year.
Specific cases
The director (Board of Directors)
In principle, directors have no special status. However, they will be considered a company director, and therefore subject to self-employed status, if the following two conditions are met:
- The NPO carries out for-profit operations and is subject to corporation tax;
- Directors are remunerated for their services.
The member (General Assembly)
A member of an NPO is a volunteer and, as such, receives no remuneration. However, they may carry out other tasks within the NPO outside their role as member. In this case, they can carry out assignments as a self-employed person, either as a director or as a service provider.
Alternative: payrolling structures
The NPO can work with an individual via a payrolling organisation (Smart, Tentoo, Merveille, Amplo, Paypro Services). This enables the NPO to "employ" someone without actually having a worker on its payroll, and allows the associate to invoice the NPO without taking on self-employed status.
In practical terms, the associate is an employee of the payrolling structure and invoices the NPO for their services using the company number of the payrolling structure.
Useful resources
Got any questions about self-employed status? Don't hesitate to contact the hub.info team!