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another day of having to explain (this time, to conference organizers) why, even though I have a VAT number, can make tax-deductible purchases, and pay a lot (a LOT) of taxes, I don't have a "company" and I can't afford their "business tickets"
(my statut juridique is "entreprise individuelle", which is confusing enough in France, and even more abroad)
it's especially confusing because the e-mail started with "hello amos we're so excited to see you at eurorust!!"
and the rest of the e-mail is "we think you're trying to cheat the system, so kindly buy the more expensive tickets or we'll cancel them"
I understand they're doing their due diligence and this was probably one of the best ways to phrase an otherwise unpleasant e-mail but, well.
if my explanation doesn't work for them I might cancel the whole travel plans and spend it on self-care instead.
> unfortunately, as soon as you add a VAT number we have to ask you to purchase a company ticket. The other option is to delete the VAT ID information and the company details.
Well this sucks. @mainmatter do better for self-employed folks next year please 
Update: EuroRust 2024 now offers affordable "freelancer tickets", clarifying the pricing situation and accounting for independent workers.
I'm 100% satisfied with this outcome. Thanks to @mainmatter for listening, and see y'all in Vienna this October!
@fasterthanlime that status is also confusing because different countries have very different ideas about those legal entities.
@fasterthanlime We need to draw the line between private and company tickets somewhere – I do agree the line can be a bit blurry in reality but this is what we decided on.
Also I’d argue our private tickets are still pretty cheap – need to subsidize those somehow
"I certify that I am a self-employed individual with a VAT ID"
seems easy enough!
@marcoow @fasterthanlime while that line makes sense in most cases, clearly someone took the time to email Amos. instead of telling him to kindly pay more because your system doesn't understand nuance, that person could have been trained to evalute whether the conclusion is "no you're cheating" or "self-employed person".
I hope you will reconsider your choice and treat individuals with a VAT number for who they are: individuals and clearly not companies.
@fasterthanlime @mainmatter It feels like you’re trying to have it both ways here.
Easiest may be to buy a private ticket and do the VAT reimbursement yourself (which most jurisdictions might just allow at this price point) based on the invoice/ticket.
@alper @mainmatter I'm sorry, did you just 1) say I was trying to cheat the system, then 2) immediately offer a better way to cheat the system, that's actually covert?
(I know that accounting trick, I'm asking for a policy change.)
@fasterthanlime @mainmatter There's no cheating here just some rules.
@alper @mainmatter isn’t “buying a personal ticket” then “immediately getting it reimbursed” pretty obviously “trying to have it both ways”? Why is my (clear) way bad and your (obfuscated) suggestion good? They both cost me the same.
@fasterthanlime They don’t cost you the same because you might not get your VAT back. To the organizer this means they don’t have to make a policy change.
The underlying question whether sole proprietors should buy company tickets… my opinion is no unless you feel generous or something. Those tickets are for actual companies.
@fasterthanlime @mainmatter good to hear that this got a happy ending!!
@fasterthanlime we’re looking forward to see you in Vienna this October 
@fasterthanlime What? Sorry, I might misunderstand that, but just because you have a company they expected you to pay company prices?
@fasterthanlime The German equivalent is probably "Einzelunternehmer" (of which there is an informal and, of course, a formal definition) and it's far from unusual to encounter them here (accounts for ~10% of all trades).
@fasterthanlime Does "freelancer" or "self-employed" not cover the case? That's what I've seen it translated as in Spain's (also weird and confusing) classification of what we call "autónomos".
@igimenezblb I do "contract work" occasionally (every few months) but it's not my primary income source, so "freelancer" feels wrong. "self-employed" also rings wrong because, I'm not actually employed! (different social regime). I'm "independent" so, a lot of things are different, including healthcare, pension, etc.
@fasterthanlime add employment and financial status to the large list of things that programmers don’t understand…
@fasterthanlime here in The Netherlands the ‘eenmanszaak’ does require a company registration at the chamber of commerce, but it’s also not really a company for tax purposes. At least JetBrains is nice enough to let me to buy an Individual license :)