International employment
Which social security system is applicable when working at home due to coronavirus?
The Dutch, Belgian and German authorities have agreed that the periods of working at home due to the coronavirus will not be taken into account for determining the applicable social security legislation for cross-border workers.
Belgium: The decision is currently valid up to and including 5 April 2020.
What are the tax consequences of obliged working at home due to the coronavirus?
According to the double tax treaty concluded between Belgium and France, frontier workers are taxed in their country of residence (France), if they (among others) do not leave the Belgian border region for more than 30 days per calendar year concerning their employment activity. The Belgian and French authorities have decided that teleworking in France due to the coronavirus will not be taken into account for the calculation of the 30-days period.
With reference to the 24-days rule regarding the tax treaty concluded between Belgium and Luxembourg, the home working days (due to the coronavirus) will also not be taken into account during this period.
In the Netherlands, a threshold regulation has been proposed, in which the tax jurisdiction remains in the working state for a number of home working days. There are currently negotiations for a new tax treaty between the Netherlands and Belgium.
In addition to these measures, we also raised the question whether the Belgian tax authorities also make an exception for normal cases of salary splits. Until further notice, no exceptions are made in such cases. The Belgian residents cannot therefore benefit from the salary split. In the near future, this might be changed, but for now it is advisable to follow the general rules. We will keep you updated.
Limosa
If employees, who normally work in a country other than Belgium, are working at home in Belgium due to the coronavirus, there is no obligation to submit a Limosa document. If this document has already been filed, but the place of employment does not correspond to the current place of telework, the declaration doesn’t need to be adapted.
