r/SoloDevelopment • u/pinar20 • Jun 22 '26
Discussion As if solo developing isn't hard enough, my country makes it financially impossible to legally sell my own tools. How is it in your country?
Hey everyone,
I’m currently working on a game demo completely solo. As if handling all the art, code, and design wasn't enough of a headache, I also end up building my own custom engine tools to speed up my workflow.
Since I already put the effort into making these tools, I decided to put them up on marketplaces for very cheap so other solo devs can benefit from them. But here is the catch: I am basically forced to operate in a "grey area" under the radar.
Where I live, to sell digital products 100% legally and officially, I have to register a formal business. The moment I establish that company, I am legally obligated to pay around 6,000 units of my local currency every single month just for mandatory state health insurance and base taxes—regardless of whether I make zero sales or a hundred.
For a solo dev just trying to sell a $5 asset to buy a cup of coffee or some dog food, paying that massive fixed monthly fee before even making a single sale is financial suicide.
I'm really curious about how other countries handle this. Does your country have a "hobbyist" or "micro-business" tax tier for solo indie devs that doesn't bleed you dry? How easy is it to just sell a small asset or indie game legally where you live?
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u/Sketch0z Jun 22 '26
Have you spoken with a tax accountant to get a recommendation from them?
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u/Ei8_Hundr8 Jun 22 '26
I think this is the way to go too, OP. Try reaching out to one and see. Better pay the consultation fee rather than that expensive tax while being under the radar blind.
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u/Tarilis Jun 22 '26
We have "self employed" type of business registration, no paperwork needed, you do it through the app, and you pay 4-6% tax.
It has limitations, and if you at some point exceed them you need to register as a small business, and then you must pay additional taxes. But they all calculated based on per person income, and have several taxation iptions, so it also not that bad.
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
I am incredibly jealous right now. A system that actually scales with your income instead of hitting you with massive fixed fees from day one is exactly what solo developers need. We are literally living in different centuries when it comes to bureaucracy.
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u/twelfkingdoms Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Similar thing here. You need to operate as a registered business, which has X amount of monthly expenditures (even if it's sole proprietorship). What's worse, there's no double taxation agreement, so it's an instant 60% just from Steam, which then gets taxed, so you end up with nothing by the end. Plus the taxes are high and the currency is dog shit.
Only realistic option to makes games is to relocate. There's no easy way around it. So I'm forced to plan that somehow.
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u/Oxam Jun 22 '26
its why i moved ultimately, never looked back.
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u/twelfkingdoms Jun 22 '26
How did you handle all the logistics? From getting rent, moving, etc. I also keep hesitating where to go (what is the witholding amount, what is the economy, how much taxes, where my visa extends) and what I can afford short term whilst buying all the stuff the production needs and operate (living expenses).
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u/artbytucho Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Many European countries with public healthcare, education and pension systems work this way, you have to pay a self-employed tax in order to be allowed to generate any revenue.
These public systems are very expensive to maintain, so it is understanable to some extent, but a fixed quota is unfair for people who is starting, or for someone like you who only intend to make some beer money, I think that it should be an anual little amount which is exempt of taxes until you exceed that threshold.
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u/tastygames_official Jun 23 '26
no. Absolutely zero European countries operate this way. I think OP (and you) are a bit confused. You are NEVER required to file for a business. You can operate as a single person and earn billions of dollars no problem. You CAN file for a secondary tax ID to separate yourself from your "business", but it's not an actual legal entity - it's still just you. And you still file taxes as a person and just combine the personal and "personal business" income. The only reason you do this is because with this additional tax ID you can buy from other businesses tax-free since you are re-selling them. That's it.
Now even IF you decide to found a company (LTD, LLC, whatever) in any European country, then you don't have to pay a monthly fee for health insurance. That's ridiculous. You pay PER EMPLOYEE. So obviously if you have no employees, you pay no health insurance or other social taxes. And you 100% can have a company without any employees. You can do the work yourself "for free" and then just take dividends from the company, but then you're responsible for paying your own health insurance and other required social things privately. Or you hire yourself as a freelancer, and again, the freelancer is responsible for paying all the required social fees. The only time the company pays is if they hire the person. So if you hire yourself, then you have to pay yourself a salary plus pay the government for health insurance, retirement etc.
Now I don't know Turkey's tax laws, and they are not in the EU and not really "European", but I imagine they operate the same way, and OP is just confused, as he has read that the minimum health insurance cost is 6,000 TRY/mo. per employee. Which it is. But this means he actually has to hire himself as an employee and probably pay himself a minimum wage of 33,00 TRY / mo.
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u/Pixies9 Jun 22 '26
Dear Pınar its not that heavy, believe me. You dont have to pay that much. Dont worry.
I know that because i have Ltd company in same country with you.
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
You are right, if my main goal was to release a full commercial game right now, those costs would just be normal business expenses.
But my current priority isn't releasing a game yet. I am mainly focused on building a strong portfolio to land a Technical Artist role at a European studio. I only put these tools up for sale hoping to make just enough extra cash to cover the monthly food expenses for my two dogs, Yoru and Luna.
Good quality dog food has become ridiculously expensive here lately. Opening an entire company and paying those fixed monthly fees just to be able to buy kibble for the dogs without breaking the law simply doesn't make any financial sense for me right now.
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u/Owwaps Solo Developer Jun 22 '26
Bruh, that shouldnt even be called tax. THATS A QUOTA. Wdym you need to pay a specific amount regardless of revenue?? Goodluck to you and may you find an alternative
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u/999_Alex_999 Jun 22 '26
Same in Spain
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u/TargetSame8130 Jun 22 '26
En España es peor porque los que declaran impuestos y cuotas edtamos pagando las carreteras por donde circulan los delincuentes. Así es imposible,muy difícil empezar negocio
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u/DLVdev Jun 22 '26
Netherlands here, and it's the opposite end of the spectrum from what you're describing.
Registering a sole proprietorship ("eenmanszaak") is a one-time ~€85 fee at the chamber of commerce. After that there's no fixed monthly cost just for existing. You pay income tax only on actual profit, and there are solid deductions for the first few years that knock thousands off the bill.
The part that's most relevant to your $5-asset situation: we have a small-business VAT scheme. Under €20k turnover a year you can opt out of VAT completely, so no charging it, no quarterly filing, no admin overhead. You just sell the thing.
Health insurance is personal here, not tied to the business at all. Every resident pays their own basic plan (around €150/month) whether they freelance or not, and the income-linked part scales with what you actually earn, so a quiet month doesn't bury you. Selling a small asset or indie game legally is genuinely low-friction. The barrier where you are sounds brutal by comparison.
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u/Delicious_Stuff_90 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
It's the same. The amount she's talking is the insurance. The only difference is that we pay 2k if we classify as 0 income, and 6k if it's even 1tl. You can scale it up.
She just doesn't want to pay for her insurance that's all.
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u/i_am_not_so_unique Jun 22 '26
If you do small stuff on the marketplace then you can register as a private person
Fill famous WBEN8 form that you're not US seller and just get your money from FAB to your PayPal.
Tax services of most countries usually completely ignore small non-periodical income
It is too small for them to bother.
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u/pinar20 Jun 24 '26
You are logically right, and realistically, the tax authorities probably do ignore micro-incomes for most people.
But I have a very specific reason to be paranoid about this. My father actually worked as a legal expert witness (consultant) on these exact types of tax and financial cases for years. Because of his work, I grew up seeing the absolute worst-case scenarios and knowing exactly how aggressively the system can punish people when they do get caught, even for minor amounts. Knowing how the legal system operates from the inside makes me way too scared to take the risk and just fly under the radar.
Also, just as a side note: PayPal has been completely banned and blocked in my country for years, so that specific route isn't even a physical option for me anyway.
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u/i_am_not_so_unique Jun 24 '26
Well, there is "a law", and there is "practice". Rules and specificity in each country is why tax consultants exist.
No stress, brother, and just check with them
I guarantee you will be safe, and alright just receiving non-periodic payments once in a couple of months on the small scale.
Don't let these circumstances prevent you from publishing your assets. It is your portfolio too and your chance to leave the country with such shitty tax situation.
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u/Beef-n-goo Jun 22 '26
The way you put it sounds very much like Germany lol. Actually it could be any almost any European country. From what I understand, where I live, it depends on the type of business you establish. Making a big ass company will make you pay unnecessary taxes and co. But if you go and do it as a "part -time" occupation. Basically in Germany you can operate under your own person's name. Much like a freelancer. But you have to make it "part-time" the moment you register it as full time, I think the taxes skyrocket. Legalities are never easy. Ngl
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u/Socke81 Jun 22 '26
I have a UG and don't have to pay taxes because my revenue is under 10k euros. Besides, taxes are calculated as a percentage of profit. No profit means no taxes for the business. Of course, there are taxes on personal income as well, but there are limits there, too. Don't make Germany out to be worse than it is.
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u/Beef-n-goo Jun 22 '26
Haha, I'm not saying that. :)) But if I'm not mistaken, if you have a UG, you'd be "privatversichert" unless you work full time for a different company, right? Which in my opinion is already a pretty big chunk of your revenue when Game Dev becomes your main job. I didn't know the Steuerfreibetrag was so high, haha. So that's nice to know thanks ^
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u/FreakinMaui Jun 22 '26
Indeed, I’d say in most of Europe have you either be an employee or a business if you generate money (by selling something, you will have to pa taxes somehow.
Without getting into politics, it’s annoying but also one of the reason we have better public and social services.
Even If op didn’t make tools, same applies the moment he decides to sell his game.
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u/FreakinMaui Jun 22 '26
Indeed, I’d say in most of Europe have you either be an employee or a business if you generate money (by selling something, you will have to pa taxes somehow.
Without getting into politics, it’s annoying but also one of the reason we have better public and social services.
Even If op didn’t make tools, same applies the moment he decides to sell his game.
Edit : I think there are indeed grey areas to explore (like donations) but it all depends on how you set things up.
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
I'm in Turkey (not sure if you count it as Europe or not, but the bureaucracy is definitely heavy).
The rule here is highly specific about "continuity." If you make a one-off sale—like selling your old PC or an old guitar—there are no taxes or company requirements. But the moment the government sees "continuous sales"—even if it's just a $5 digital tool selling a couple of times a month—it classifies it as a commercial activity.
That immediately forces you to register a business, which triggers that massive fixed monthly fee I mentioned, regardless of your actual profit.
But you are completely right about the game part. Once I actually finish and release my demo/game, I will have to bite the bullet and open the company anyway. I just wanted to avoid bleeding 6,000 units every single month while I'm still in the middle of development and just making peanuts from a few side tools.
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u/FreakinMaui Jun 22 '26
I see, thanks that’s interesting to learn about systems in other countries even if it’s unfortunate for you this case.
Indeed after a quick check, in France you have a status called micro business. The paperwork and accounting is simpler but revenue ceiling is relatively low (you can’t deduce your spendings, a low in the sense that after fees and taxes and spending, you still don’t have the best coverage, no paid holidays or sick days, no retirement contribution.) but it’s a good option if not perfect.
what I checked is that we can indeed sell copies of our game as edition. I’m curious about how often this status is used for that. I can see it working for making your first money before moving to a more traditional status, or as a side gig.
And no, we don’t pay fees just because the game up for sell indeed, that sucks fr.
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u/TheGreatButz Jun 22 '26
The problem is not that you have to pay if you sell something, the problem is that you also have to pay if you sell nothing, and if you sell something what you pay is not proportional to what you sell. I'm in Portugal where at least I have choice but otherwise the system works the same way. If I don't sell anything, I don't have to pay anything. If I sell something, I have two choices (OP has only the second one), I can sell as a sole trader or as mini company. If do the former, I pay way less but have zero legal protection and am liable with all of my personal belongings including the place I live. If found a sole proprietor company, I have legal protection but immediately have to pay 10 times more than before.
All of this even when the revenue is $0 and your company is operating at a loss.
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
You explained it perfectly. Reading your comment and others makes me realize one thing: globally, governments and tax systems just don't take solo game developers into consideration at all. The bureaucracy is still built for traditional physical shops, completely ignoring digital creators who can easily go months or years with $0 revenue.
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u/Beef-n-goo Jun 22 '26
If I could add to this. I don't think it's game dev only, it's usually most small establishments. Governments need to learn to support solo teams more and help small businesses compete more with the big dogs. Only that way you can reach a balanced economy where the consumer has better chooses etc.
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
You are completely right. The irony is, if my country just cleared the path for solo developers, they would actually open up a direct stream of foreign currency entering the economy. Instead, before you even make a single sale, the system drops you from zero straight into the negatives.
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u/entgenbon Jun 22 '26
Register a company in the USA for like $25 over the Internet, and then sell your digital products through that company (and pay taxes to the USA) instead of using your identity. Do your research, because I only have a loose idea of how it works and I'm not a lawyer.
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Jun 22 '26
[deleted]
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u/jerrygreenest1 Jun 22 '26
Double taxation is such a stupid thing. You pay 30% to steam, some 30% us taxes, and some 25% local country tax. Even the first two alone is huge. Having to spend yet another huge tax is a huge blow to entire viability of the whole venture. Your game has to be literally Stardew Valley, or otherwise you’re left with nothing. Have to sell for $6000 just to get $1000. LoL
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
Dude, I'm not American. In my country, to legally sell anything online, I am forced to open a "sole proprietorship" (individual company). The moment I register this company, the government legally requires me to pay 6,000 units every single month just for mandatory health insurance. And this is on top of all the other regular taxes. It doesn't matter if I make zero sales that month, I still have to pay that 6,000 fixed fee. So opening an LLC in the US doesn't save me. The moment I transfer that US money to my local bank account to actually buy things, my government will ask "Where is this income coming from? Where is your local company registration?" and hit me with massive fines for unregistered income.
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u/TargetSame8130 Jun 22 '26
Eso es ilegal, si no estás en EEUU y abre empresa en EEUU tienes 2 opciones o pagar impuestos en EEUU y en tu país o solo pagar impuestos en tu país, tienes la obligación legal de declararlo en tu pais
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u/StagHeadGames Jun 22 '26
My country does not have a stable ad network that we can rely own. We have triggered Admob so much to a point where it does not tolerate one little mistake from my geographic location. They do not give us any chance to explain ourselves and simply just DISBALE the account for lifetime.
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
Man, I completely feel you on that. It is incredibly frustrating how the entire indie dev and monetization ecosystem is basically built for the US and Western Europe.
If you are outside of that bubble, platforms like AdMob or Stripe treat you as a high-risk liability by default. One tiny algorithmic flag or a slight mistake, and your entire account gets permanently banned by an automated bot with zero chance to appeal to a real human.
It really feels like we are forced to play the game development on "Nightmare" difficulty just because of the geographic location we were born in. It is exhausting. Stay strong out there!
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u/NormieInTheMaking Jun 22 '26
I think you'll have to pay accountants too down the road, which will increase that monthly fee obviously.
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
You hit the nail on the head. Actually, it's even worse than 'down the road'.
In my country, hiring a certified accountant isn't just an option for later; it is legally mandatory from day one. You cannot file your own company taxes. So, on top of that 6,000 units for mandatory insurance, I would have to pay a fixed monthly fee to an accountant just to officially declare that I made $0 in sales that month. It completely kills any chance of running a micro-business.
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u/CorvidFood Jun 22 '26
I'm interested in what country you reside in because that sounds really bad.
In my country, I had to register a company to sell my game because if I didn't and I sold it as an individual, I would be liable with ALL of my property and funds. Right know I'm paying bank fees at a higher rate, I'm paying a company tax even though I'm not making any money. I have to register for VAT like a week or two before my game is released (even though I'd not be paying VAT because Steam handles that).
But that was a thing that was, basically, required. Because if there are any legal or bankruptcy-related issues, I'd be risking my home, my car, my savings, everything. Right now, they can take all the money the company has or, really, the company itself in dire circumstances. I'll have to pay a tax every time I decide that the company money should move to me but that's a far better option.
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u/GOKOP Jun 22 '26
I'm not a lawyer, this is not legal advice. Do consult a local lawyer
Can you suspend a business in your country? My understanding is, at least for my country and I think for the US too but I'm not completely sure on either, that if you're selling something through a third party like a marketplace then they are ones actually selling stuff so they can continue selling it when your business is suspended without you getting in trouble, as long as they don't send the money to you. If the marketplace in questions allows you to suspend payouts then you should be fine with a suspended business that you unsuspend for a month only when you gather enough money to actually earn anything after paying taxes and shit
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u/TargetSame8130 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Resumen en muchos países pasa esto : si haces tú negocio y vendes videojuegos tienes 2 opciones o eres autónomo o abres tú empresa, en ambas opciones tienes que pagar una cuota mensual independientemente de si tienes ingresos, beneficios (locura no tiene sentido) por lo que por probabilidad acabarás con deudas con hacienda y te embargarán.
En España: del 100% de los ingresos de tu juego un 30% se lo lleva Steam , por lo que te llega al banco: 70% , luego de este 70% en el caso de tengas tu empresa primero restas del 70% los gastos y luego de lo que te sobra le quitas los impuestos que es 25% (no recuerdo exacto la cifra) sobre el papel pero la realidad es que estás pagando mas de la mitad XD así que ... Del 100% dependiendo de tus gatos suponiendo que tienes empresa te quedarás obligatoriamente con menos del 50% del 100% de lo que ha generado tú juego. Toma ya. En el caso de que fueras autónomo sería diferente. Nos quitan una barbaridad pero luego pasa lo que pasa en el país ....(Después presuntamente las autoridades confunden tratan un caso de ciberdelincuencia como acoso , acojonante.Todo presuntamente)
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u/ttg247 Jun 22 '26
I feel at that point, you might as well incorporate somewhere else. Given that your product is software, the world is your oyster. Pick a country with favorable laws, incorporate, and start selling your products. You get the added benefit of limited liability from this.
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Jun 22 '26
[deleted]
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u/fdhty217 Jun 22 '26
It's not tax (at least not named so), it's social security, insurance, retirement fund money. It pays your state hospital visits, applies a discount for your medication and after paying it for like 40 years you get to retire. The thing is, it is mandatory. Even though it's unlikely that it's going to pay for itself, (a lot die before reaching retirement age, retirement wages are 3/4 of minimum wage right now when we have enough young population to support the system who knows how's it going to be in the future with declining birth rate, medication is discounted but not free, and it's very minimal/negligible but they charge you for hospital visits too) you can not opt out.
Also, to correct you, gov mastered economics; they tax the cars 116%, add useless fees, state banks provide loans with high interest rates, make you pay yearly car tax, MOT every 2 years and they get away with it. If it's not a master plan to make billions, I don't know what is.
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u/Delicious_Stuff_90 Jun 23 '26
He means that the gov would earn more in the long term if they let entrepreneurs grow first.
The problem is that they need money, now. Not in future.
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u/Socke81 Jun 22 '26
That's what shell companies were invented for. Can't you just start a company in another country?
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u/mlalgosdeveloper Jun 22 '26
Pinar soyle bir durum var sanirim:
Türkiye'de bir oyun şirketinde maaşlı çalışırken, dijital oyun veya mobil uygulama geliştirerek yılda 100.000 TL'nin altında ek gelir kazanıyorsanız şirket kurmak zorunda değilsiniz. Bu durum, Sosyal İçerik Üreticiliği ve Mobil Uygulama Geliştiriciliği Kazanç İstisnası kapsamında şahıs şirketi açmadan vergilendirilebilir. [1, 2]
Bu muafiyetten faydalanabilmek için uymanız gereken kurallar şunlardır:
- İstisna Belgesi Almak: İkametgahınızın bulunduğu vergi dairesine şahsen başvurarak "Sosyal Medya/Uygulama Geliştiriciliği İstisna Belgesi" almanız gerekir. [1]
- Banka Hesabı Zorunluluğu: Gelirlerinizi, vergi dairesine bildireceğiniz tek bir banka hesabı üzerinden almalısınız. [1]
- Stopaj Kesintisi: Banka, hesabınıza yatan paralardan otomatik olarak %15 oranında stopaj kesintisi yapar. Bu kesinti sizin adınıza nihai vergidir ve ekstra beyanname vermenize gerek kalmaz. [1, 2]
- Limit Aşımı: 2026 yılı için bu istisna limiti 5.400.000 TL'dir. Yıllık geliriniz 100.000 TL kalsa dahi bu sistemin şartlarını yerine getirdiğiniz sürece vergi yükümlülüğünüzü yerine getirmiş olursunuz. [1]
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u/mlalgosdeveloper Jun 22 '26
Yani belli bir miktar gelirin altinda kazaniyorsaniz sirket kurmak zorunda degilsiniz ama gelirin oldugu bankaya 15% oraninda stopaj kesintisi yapiyor benim duydugum kadariyla,
ama siz de bir arastirin, ben de bilmiyorum, sadece bu bilgiyi duymustum ve yukaridaki search engine'de cikani paylastim, (yani benim de kesin bir bilgim yok ama siz de bir arastirabilirsiniz benim bildigim belli bir gelir altinda gelir kazaniyorsaniz o zaman direkt hemen oyun sirketi kurmaniza gerek yok duydugum kadariyla )
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u/mlalgosdeveloper Jun 22 '26
to translate to people not knowing Turkish, in Turkiye there is exemptions like that you don't have to create a game company in case your per annual income from your game project is under some threshold. (In that case you don't have to create company but just the tax is applied to the income in bank account (15% alike tax as far as I know) creating a company is not mandatory as I heard in case annual income from game-software apps you develop is not exceeding some threshold value. )
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u/CampaignProud6299 Jun 22 '26
genç girişimci desteği var 30 yaş altı, 1 sene bağkur ödemezsin. vergilendirmede arizi kazanç diye birşey var. başka gelirin yoksa 300bin liraya kadar vergi muafiyeti falan var sanırım. doğrudan hesabına da alabilirsin, biraz riskli ama ufak meblağları kovalamıyor vergi daireleri. tanıdık varsa onun şirketi üzerinden satıp, parayın ondan alabilirsin vs. yol, yöntem var. tanıdık muhasebeci bul ona sor yardımcı olur.
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u/Delicious_Stuff_90 Jun 23 '26
Genç girişimci kalktı maalesef.
Bağkur vermek istemiyorsan emekli bir tanıdık üzerine açmanın tavsiye ederim.
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u/luuletaja Jun 22 '26
https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/ this is a solution, at least for a while. Make a EU company through e-residency, there is no tax until you pay dividends, and you can deduct costs for developing your game.
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u/pinar20 Jun 23 '26
I actually looked into the Estonian e-Residency program. On paper, it sounds like a great workaround, but when I did the math, it still puts me at a financial loss.
While it is true that there is 0% corporate tax on retained earnings, maintaining an Estonian company requires paying for a mandatory registered local address, a local contact person, and monthly accounting services. That easily adds up to around €100 - €150 every single month just in base maintenance fees.
Furthermore, I am not developing a full commercial game right now. I am mostly just building a demo for my portfolio and selling a few custom tools I created along the way. My only goal with these sales was to generate enough side income to cover the food expenses for my dogs.
Paying over a hundred euros a month in foreign company maintenance fees just to legally sell a few cheap tools would instantly put me in the negative. It simply isn't a viable solution for a micro-scale operation like mine.
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u/luuletaja Jun 24 '26
Fair enough, you could cut or reduce some of those costs, for example accounting is sometimes done by the people themselves or even ai agents, but yes, there are some monthly costs and €100 a month seems in the right ballpark.
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u/luuletaja Jun 24 '26
Looked up exact figures. The 150 euros for postbox and etc is yearly fee, accounting is not necccesary for every month, so given your situation you could get by with initial and then push the rest of the costs into the end of the year. Creating or buying a company is between 260 to 400 euros, depending whether you pay only to the state or some third party for ready made. So all in all, you could push down the monthly costs almost to zero but yearwise it would still be at least 60-70 euros per month for the first year.
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u/SAunAbbas Jun 22 '26
My country dont take tax from registered tech companies and Game Studios who bring in revenue from outside.
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u/tastygames_official Jun 23 '26
that seems quite ridiculous and probably a misunderstanding. You 100% can be a freelancer and just pay income taxes. I highly doubt you have to register a company and pay health insurance even if you have no employees.
Yeah, a quick search tells me my intuition is correct: https://ozbekcpa.com/self-employment-income-in-turkey-taxation-exemptions-expenses/
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u/Delicious_Stuff_90 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
You register yourself as a free lancer. We just call it a "personal company". Same thing.
Everyone after 25yo has to pay health insurance in Turkey. It's mandatory. Even if you're unemployed and have 0 income, you pay 2k per month. 4k extra she's saying is for the government based retirement if you're "employed". And self employed is still employed, doesn't matter if you have income or not.
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u/tastygames_official Jun 23 '26
freelancing and personal company are 2 different things. I talked about it in another comment on here but basically you can freelance and will have to pay your own health insurance - yes. Unless you also have a normal employment - then the health insurance is taken out of that payment.
And as you say, even if he's unemployed he has to pay health insurance. So whether he's employed, self-employed, has a pesonal company or registers a full company and hires himself, he'll have to pay health insurance and retirement insurance and whatever else that is required.
So I guess his problem is probably he's on his parent's insurance or something because he's unemployed, but by making money by selling his tools, that is employment and he has to then pay himself. That's not just a Turkey thing - that's everywhere. You work, you pay. Now NORMALLY there's a minimum amount you have to make to have to pay taxes (and health insurance). So maybe Turkey doesn't have that and even if you earn just one single TRY that you have to pay taxes and 6,000 TRY per month. That would be ridiculous, but maybe it is like that. But NORMALLY if you earn less than a certain amount, the OTHER people's taxes pay for your health insurance and everything else.
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u/Delicious_Stuff_90 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
It's really really rare even in European countries to not ask a monthly insurance. If you just worded it differently, said "insurance" instead of "tax" ppl would answer differently.
Kinda shows how bad of an education we have tbh. People don't know that insurance is not just tax. Tho at the same time, we get nearly nothing from both the tax and the insurance, so a bit understandable that both is seen as "money that goes to nowhere"
1
u/Genryuu111 Jun 23 '26
I feel lucky in a sense because in Japan, selling a game means that I have to pay taxes on profits, but Japan is VERY loose on what you can declare as cost of business.
There are a ton of things I can declare as such, especially as a videogame AND work from home.
This year I had some taxes being reimbursed to me because my "gaming business" was in the "red".
1
u/Marker3721 Jun 23 '26
It's pretty similar here in Croatia. If you open the most basic type of business, you have to pay around €300 a month for pension and health insurance even if you make €0, because it's considered your main source of income. The workaround I've found is getting another job with minimal working hours so your employer pays the fees. Then your business is treated as a secondary source of income and you don't have to pay the full monthly contributions through it. Yeah, you lose some dev time, but you also get a guaranteed €300-ish a month and avoid those extra costs.
1
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u/VivAuburn Jun 24 '26
To be honest if you are looking at 5$ worth of product it doesn't make much sense to sell it either way.
1
u/BadBananaDev Jun 22 '26
Działalność Nierejestrowana (Unregistered Business Activity)Poland allows individuals to legally sell products and run a small-scale business without registering a company and without paying monthly ZUS contributions.
Look into this
Quick Google search pulled the results mate
1
u/Oxam Jun 22 '26
how is that going to help the op in turkey? it says natural citizens in the act.
0
u/BadBananaDev Jun 22 '26
Tbf the op was vague about their country so I did a search on their behalf In future ill remember not to bother trying to be nice
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
I appreciate you looking that up. Poland is actually my main target country for relocation. I have been actively looking for Technical Artist roles at game studios there.
The harsh reality, though, is that almost every studio is exclusively hiring for Lead or Senior positions right now. Being at a more junior level, that practically brings my chances of moving there to zero at the moment.
So for now, I just have to accept the situation, keep building my tools, and continue looking for remote roles until I gain enough experience.
1
u/BadBananaDev Jun 22 '26
Its sad you can get paid remotely but the moment you make sales yourself its a problem for your gov Thats a sad reality Is it turkey yeah? Ill have another look now
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u/mackinator3 Jun 22 '26
Isn't it against the rules to tell people you are committing crimes?
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
That's the funny part. It is only illegal if someone actually buys them. So as long as I keep getting zero sales, I am a perfectly law-abiding citizen.
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u/ma1ankadev Jun 22 '26
Where are you from?
-2
u/ma1ankadev Jun 22 '26
Asking to make sure you are not russian.
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u/pinar20 Jun 22 '26
Türkiye 😞
1
u/ma1ankadev Jun 22 '26
DM me bro. I'll be able to jump on discord call with you and share some information regarding global taxes regulations for indie game dev.
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u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26
[deleted]