How do start working as a freelancer?

Those who plan to build their career in the online freelance marketplace for the long term or dream of working independently and openly and earning twice as much as in government or other private jobs should be proficient in web design and development. Therefore, before entering this market, it is better to try to acquire thorough skills in various aspects of web development including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Wordpress, Joomla etc.

James Knight, for most of us, may not be familiar with this person or his name at all. But he is a role model for some tech savvy youth in India. James worked as an ordinary professional programmer at the search engine Google. James seemed to be slowly getting bored with the ordinary life and the monthly salary. Suddenly, he decided to quit his high-paying job at Google. James, 27, surprised everyone by quitting his job at Google and starting freelancing. This is not too many years ago. James, who quit his job in 2016 to freelance online, may be surprised to learn how much he earns at the moment. James is the richest freelancer in the world, earning more than $1,000 an hour. He is now doing the same programming, software and mobile app development work he did at Google, independently, from home, at his own discretion and convenience, and earns the best salary in return. Inspired by James’ ideals, many of his fans in India too have ventured into the online freelancing market. The lockdown announced across the country last year has given a new impetus to the market.

What is online freelancing?

Online freelancing has become a very important and widely popular and discussed topic in the IT industry in today's world. Today, freelancing is a massive billion-dollar technology market. Most of the developed countries in the world focus on outsourcing to reduce the cost of labour. The online freelancing or outsourcing market covers a variety of topics like graphic design, web design, SEO, animation, video editing, programming, data entry. This market is also growing in India. This market is widely popular among today's younger generation mainly due to the opportunity to work independently, at will, at any time and from any place. In addition, people of any age can earn money by outsourcing in this way. For example, if a student can freelance alongside his studies, this is also possible for an employee or an ordinary housewife. There is only one condition to be met to become a partner in this market, which is technological skills.

How to get involved in the outsourcing market?

Those who plan to build their career in the online freelance marketplace for the long term or dream of working independently and openly and earning twice as much as in government or other private jobs should be proficient in web design and development. Therefore, before entering this market, it is better to try to acquire thorough skills in various aspects of web development including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Wordpress, Joomla etc. Experience in data entry, graphic design, SEO and email marketing is also required.

It is also important to note that many people usually think of data entry as typing in office programs. The scope of online data entry is actually vast. Online marketplace data entry includes Excel data entry, image sizing optimization, image upload, video upload, WordPress, Joomla posting, posting on e-commerce sites, etc. So there is no substitute for skill to survive in this market. Now let's talk about various domestic and foreign organizations or reliable sites that offer freelancing services, freelancing marketplaces. The person who submits projects or works on these sites is called a 'buyer' and the person who works on such projects is known as a 'freelancer' Different freelancers can apply for each project. Such an application should also specify the amount of money the freelancer can do the work for. The client selects and contracts one or more freelancers according to their budget. The contract is usually finalized based on previous work experience, previous work samples and the remuneration sought for the work. Around the world, various freelancing sites like Upwok.com (Odesk), Ilans.com, Fiber.com, GraphicRiver.net, ThemeForest.net, PeopleParHour.com etc. have been contracting skilled freelancers from different countries for technology-based projects for large sums of money. Among these, the most popular site in our country is Upwork.com (ODesc). Upwork, which is the largest online freelancing platform in the world, has buyers posting various projects from all over the world every moment. With an excellent profile that attracts at first glance and special skills in technology, newcomers to the field can freelance from Upwork for a large salary. Apart from Upwork, the most popular outsourcing sites in India are Thrlancer, 99Designs, Freelancer.com, Toptel, Enveto Studio, Guru, Worknhire etc. respectively.

This also comes up with the process of payment of contract dues or remuneration to freelancers. Freelancing sites in India usually transfer money to the freelancer's bank account or pay through Paytm, Google Pay, Instagram etc. Currently, 60 per cent of Indian freelancers are young people under the age of 30 and the average income of each of them is more than Rs 20 lakh per annum through online freelancing. 23 per cent of freelancers earn up to Rs 40 lakh annually in India.

Freelancing is one of the most talked about topics for the youth of our country nowadays. Freelancing work involves the freedom to work that cannot be achieved in a traditional job. In the freelancing sector, on the one hand, there is the freedom to work as you wish, as well as the freedom to choose different types of work. There is also a huge potential in freelancing in terms of income. Anyone skilled in any one or more fields of programming, digital marketing, SEO, graphic design, website, games, 3D animation, project management, software bug testing, data entry etc. can successfully create themselves as a freelancer. Students can also pursue a professional career for the future through freelancing at the end of their studies or in parallel with their studies. Overall, freelancing is a huge multi-billion dollar market today. Freelancers have also gained popularity in India recently but the market is relatively limited compared to other countries.

There are special rules for freelancers in the tax system of India Many people think that there are no rules for paying income tax against the money earned by freelancers. But this idea is completely wrong. A freelancer has to pay a certain amount of tax like other employees or businessmen. However, there are some special rules in the Indian tax system for freelancers. Just as freelance workers are covered under income tax, there are also special benefits for them in terms of income tax exemption. When a freelancer wants to file an income tax return, he gets the option of ITR 3 and ITR In fact, all the rules of income tax return depend on the earnings limit. From employees to businessmen, everyone comes under income tax on the basis of their own salary. However, there are certain income tax rules for those who freelance, that is, earn money through freelance work

If a freelancer wants to file Income Tax - Return (ITR), he will get the option of ITR-3 and ITR-4. Many people freelance in addition to working. In that case, the person will get the option of these two forms. This rule only applies to earnings from freelancing excluding earnings from employment in a particular financial year. It should be noted that in the case of freelance work, if more money is transacted, ie if the amount of money subject to income tax is transacted, a notice will be sent to the freelancer's household by the Income Tax Department.

As per the rules of the Income Tax Act, those who earn from freelance are required to pay advance tax every three months by the due date. However, this rule will only apply if the person's taxable income exceeds Rs. 10,0 On the other hand, freelance earnings are tax exempted as are business earnings. You have the option of deducting the cost of freelance work from your gross income. “That means, in this case, taxpayers can get a tax break on earnings.

It is also important to know in which cases freelance taxpayers can get exemption. A special income tax exemption is available on the cost of devices used for freelance work including laptops or personal computers.

Freelancers also get tax exemption on any electronic equipment used for work, office expenses, internet bills and phone bills, travel expenses for work, etc. When filing income tax Freelancers should remember that they are not allowed to claim the standard deduction of Rs 50,000 while filing their income tax returns. However, if a person is employed and in addition earns as a freelancer, he will have the opportunity to claim standard deduction on his employment salary. The main thing that every freelancer should remember when filing income tax returns is that it is recommended to mention TDS when filing income tax returns.