Am I understanding this correctly... either corporations use Ovi or individuals use the repository... what was the model if freelancers wanted to actually make money?

I won't lie, I'm still catching up, so I might very well be missing a lot... so I don't mind admitting that publicly... thanks in advance.

I too operate a sole proprietorship, and don't wish to incorporate. (Incorporating would give me more problems than advantages.)

I'm not sure if I'll be publishing apps on the commercial N900 store, but I've got some interesting apps in mind so perhaps.

If what you encountered was just some form that required you to enter your company details, I'd put it down to immaturity - so many aspects of the N900 / Ovi stuff for N900 seem to be undergoing rapid change, giving an impression of not even beta quality at this stage. I'd put it down to oversight.

But to have your account cancelled, that's quite different and more serious.

If they won't reinstate your account, I sure hope you get your 50 Euros back.

Maybe they really don't accept non-incorporated publishers as a matter of policy. There may be a cultural change still needed over at Ovi... Let's face it, Ovi's connected with Symbian, and Symbian isn't exactly a big open welcome-to-everyone space on the publishing side.

In which case, if they don't change soon, they'll probably find themselves competing against an alternative app store...

Some UK notes, not about the Store, but about UK rules and regulations of one person business. I'm no an expert, and some of this may be wrong (but hopefully not!); this is simply what I've learned from running such a business for ~5 years:

To operate a business in the UK, you don't have to form a company; that is, you don't have to incorporate. If you operate a business just as yourself, without a company, then you're a sole-trader.

However, if you don't have a company (and aren't employed by one), and are making money selling something as a business, and that would include making even a tiny amount from an obscure app coded in your spare time, then you must register as self-employed, and you are expected to fill a tax return and declare your income on it.

(You don't have to register self-employed for things like selling a few of your things second hand on Ebay, but you would have to do it if you, say, regularly bought and sold things through Ebay. I don't know the exact rules, but if you're operating even a very small business, that would count as self employment).

If you decide to form a company, that's very easy in the UK. You can even do it online, quickly; there are lots of services offering that (actually you buy a pre-existing company and have the name changed, in that case). Since quite recently, you can operate a one-person company with just one person; until recently, you needed the cooperation of a second person. You will be a director and therefore also an employee of your company, and are expected to fill a tax return.

Lots of people have their own companies in the UK; it's not that arduous. Often they do it for tax benefits, and limited liability protection in case of bankruptcy and other liabilities. Unfortunately in recent years, the tax benefits have reduced to the point where it's barely worth it at low income from a company.

But there are reasons to avoid forming a company too: The accounting is a lot more complicated (you employ yourself, so you have to handle PAYE, employers' as well as employee's NI, corporation tax, etc.) and the rules you have to follow are stricter, so you'll probably have to hire an accountant; you'll hire a solicitor to set it up (and it costs something to set up); you must have a company bank account separate from your personal accounts (which banks charge a little for); you must pay for certain kinds of insurance due to having an employee even though it's only you; and most of all: you must file correct accounts in the correct format, on time, every year, to Companies House, as well as some other documentation. If you fail to file on time, the penalties range from significant fines up to jail time(!), so if you're chronically disorganised like me, this may be offputting.

An accountant will generally charge more to handle company accounts than sole-trader accounts, because company accounts are more complicated. And you really need an accountant, in practice, if you're doing company accounts, while you can get by without one for sole-trader accounts, if you're prepared to read all the literature. That said, this is bread and butter stuff because so many people in the UK incorporate, so it's not hard to find a suitable accountant.

By the way, contract software developers often have a company, even if they work every day in someone else's office, because that's just how it's done around here... It's seen as a sign of professionalism among other reasons, and many places require it. It may be the developer's own company, or they might work under the umbrella of an agency company.

Regarding VAT: VAT registration is much the same whether you're a company or a sole-trader. Above a turnover threshold, you must register for VAT. Below it, VAT registration is optional.

Mostly people below the threshold don't register for VAT, but there are reasons to do so, and reasons not to. A reason to is you can claim back VAT which you are charged on expenses, for example when you buy your N900 exclusively for business purposes you can reclaim the VAT ;-). Or you can go on the VAT "flat rate scheme", where you can't claim on expenses, but you charge others VAT and don't have to give up all of the VAT you have charged others. It's a nice little net benefit if you have low expenses. But a reason not to register for VAT is: Then you can afford to charge less, because your price to others doesn't include VAT; or equivalently, you get to keep more of what you charge.

The decider is usually: Are you selling mostly to VAT-registered traders (in which case you add the VAT to your price as they can just reclaim it, so that's no big deal), or mostly to non-VAT-registered traders and individuals, who cannot claim back the VAT you have to charge them. VAT administration is quite easy, so that's not an issue (but don't push the authorities, just do what you're supposed to).

Finally, I'm not sure what's going on here, but it gets more complicated with international transactions, including within the EU. I've noticed recently some places in the US are starting to require a VAT number for "business purchases" from the UK (Go Daddy domain names comes to mind), which is a bummer if you aren't VAT registered but would tick the business purchase box... I'm not sure what's going on, but there's a major change in the way VAT is handled on transactions between countries about to kick in in January 2010... for business customers, it'll be completely different than what happens within a country. This might be connected with the Ovi Store requiring a VAT number, which someone has mentioned. Ovi Store payments to publishers would surely count as business to business transactions for VAT purposes.

Hope I got all that right. :-)

Additionally, I am now in the final stages of registering my corporation, and by then end of this process it will have cost:

- $40 for business name reservation
- $350 for filing
- $80 for Ovi store application

So in total, this little venture will cost $470.

If you want a reason why a developer wouldn't incorporate, these are the cold hard facts.

I only hope that in a few months from now I'm saying "hey guys! it was totally worth the half a grand it cost to get into the ovi store!!"

We'll see.

@code177:
Let's wait and see

That blog post talks about open source applications getting (or not) their way to Ovi while the hot spot of discussion here is about individual commercial developers, which is in fact a different thing.

Sorry, I can't remember whether there is already a thread or Brainstorm discussion concentrating on getting the best of OSS maemo.org Downloads in Ovi. If so, please point me to the right place. If not, let's start that discussion and I'll update you about the discussions we have already got.

I realise that this is not within Quim's responsibilities as it is not about the open source world. However, I believe, very strongly, that the commercial success of the Maemo platform is important to those of us in the open source maemo.org community. If the platform is not commercially successful, with lots of commercial applications, then it will not be a sustainable business and we will not see more devices from Nokia or other manufacturers.

I feel extremely angry and let down by the Ovi/Forum Nokia people over this. We, in the maemo.org community, are contributing our experience, our time, our documentation, our support, our testing and our software to the success of Maemo. We expect Nokia to be doing the same to attract, encourage and support all non-free developers.

If Nokia does not open up Ovi to individuals, sole traders and small businesses (not just corporations) then it will fail to build a viable alternative to the app stores for other platforms.

I am employed full-time and I choose to develop software and support this community in my spare time. Currently I license all my software under free licences. But maybe tomorrow I would come up with an idea for a neat app which I think might be worth EUR 0.99 to people. I should have the option to sell that through the Ovi store as an individual (without having to give up my day job which I would be forced to do by my current employer if I created a company).

Other app stores allow individuals to trade (and eBay manages it very successfully for physical goods). There is no business, commercial or legal issue stopping Ovi from doing this. It is just Ovi is not geared up to support a device that plans to be as successful as the iPhone!

If Nokia does not fix this, and very soon, so that individuals can sell applications through the Ovi store then I , for one, will become very concerned about the future of Maemo and maemo.org.

Graham Cobb
maemo.org Community Council Member

Ref: http://discussion.forum.nokia.com/fo...15&postcount=2

This seems a pretty low barrier to entry (for the UK).

Graham, have you checked the contractual position with your current employer? Many companies add a 'grab all' clause to employment contracts.

There is no legal reason for having to leave your current employer if you start your own company unless your employment contract requires that, I would check the legality of that clause if relevant too.

If you look at the whole thread it seems this is not resolved. The Ovi Publisher registration form asks specifically for a VAT code, not a Tax code.

Sure, a Tax code or National Insurance number might get you past the online form validator, but it doesn't mean you won't be kicked out (as code177 was) when Ovi realises you are not a VAT-registered company.

Regards,
Roger