OECD requested to look for solutions for taxation of telework (remote work)

During the Belgian presidency of the European Union an EU task force was established to discuss taxation of telework (remote work).

Recently the Belgian government has presented the work done by this task force. As the task force was not able to find workable solutions for appropriately taxing telework and has highlighted that taxation of telework is not solely an EU issue, it has come to the conclusion that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is in a better position to examine the issues and come up with workable solutions. This request is in line with the OECD’s own findings with respect to teleworker taxation.

The reason why action from the OECD is important is that as a result of the Covid pandemic home working has skyrocketed and flexibility in working arrangements has proven a vital element for employers and employees alike.

As taxation, social security levies, corporate tax qualifications as well as labour law aspects of income earned during teleworking are different per situation/country, standardization is highly necessary.

The OECD has mentioned that it will therefore continue to work on solutions in this area and it can be expected that it will launch initiatives in the near future to standardize treatment of teleworking.

In case you would like to receive further information of have a question in relation to this topic, then please do not hesitate to contact either Hans de Vries or Bart van Gool of our Human Capital department so that they may further inform you.