Home working expense allowance – update
On 1 July 2021 an addendum (Circular 2021/C/62) was issued to the Circular 2021/C/20 of 26 February 2021 on employer contributions for home office work. The Circular 2021/C/20 of 26 February 2021 discusses the tax system for employer contributions for home office work. According to this Circular, employers may grant employees who structurally and regularly
Employer interventions for homework: updated guidelines beyond COVID-19
As many questions on the possible financial contributions that employers may make to the various home office costs incurred by their employees remained unanswered in the Circular of 14 July 2020 (see our newsflash of 17 July 2020 in this respect), a new Circular (2021/C/20) was published by the Federal Public Service for Finance on
Home working expense allowance – update
On 12 February, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Vincent Van Peteghem announced that some fiscal support measures will, further to the Covid-19 pandemic, be extended. One of these measures relates to the home working allowance. Since the government thinks that many companies will continue encouraging home working after the Corona Crisis, the tax-free allowance for
Update COVID-19 and cross-border employment: agreement with France extended
We refer to our newsflashes of 28 August 2020 and 31 augustus 2020 and in which we announced the extension of the international agreements regarding a mutual “force majeure tolerance” for cross-border workers in relation to COVID-19 (travel) restrictions concluded between Belgium and Luxembourg/the Netherlands/Germany until 31 December 2020. As anticipated, a similar extension is
Update COVID-19 and cross-border employment: agreement with Germany extended
We refer to our newsflash of 28 August 2020 in which we announced the extension of the international agreements regarding a mutual “force majeure tolerance” for cross-border workers in relation to COVID-19 (travel) restrictions concluded between Belgium and Luxembourg/the Netherlands until 31 December 2020. As anticipated, a similar extension is now announced for the agreement
Requests COVID-19: homeworking expense allowance
Following the recently published Circular Letter concerning homeworking expense allowance, the Belgian Ruling Office has published a statement on the 19th of August 2020 in this respect. As stated in our newsflash of 17th of July 2020, employers can grant a lump sum allowance for home office expenses to their employees equal to EUR 129,48
Update COVID-19 and cross-border employment: agreements with Germany and the Netherlands extended
As announced in our previous newsflashes, Belgium has concluded several agreements with almost all of our neighboring countries (i.e. Germany, the Netherlands, France and Luxembourg). These agreements implement a mutual force majeure tolerance for cross-border employees in relation to the COVID-19 (travel) restrictions. Based on the specific Belgian-German agreement of 6 May 2020, if certain
Costs proper to the employer – homeworking
If certain conditions are met, no income taxes and no social security contributions are due on allowances which are attributed as a ‘repayment of costs proper to the employer’. The National Social Security Office has recently decided to increase the maximum lump-sum allowance which can be attributed as a cost proper to the employer for
