Belgium and the Netherlands reach tax agreement for cross-border teleworkers

The Netherlands and Belgium have reached an agreement on the tax consequences of cross-border teleworkers. There will be no tax consequences for employees who work from home up to half of the time.

Employers of Belgians working in the Netherlands are usually taxable in the Netherlands and vice versa. Since the rise of teleworking following the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the fiscal consequences of working from home have been unclear.

The Dutch and Belgian governments have now reached an agreement on this issue, the cabinet of Finance minister Vincent Van Peteghem confirmed on Tuesday. Cross-border workers will be able to work from home up to 50 per cent of their working hours per year without tax consequences. 

If the telework exceeds this threshold, taxation will depend on a number of conditions. For example, if the employer requires the employee to do some work from home, the employer will have to pay tax in the employee's country of residence.

The regulation, which has been negotiated over the past six months, was published in the Belgian official journal on Tuesday. A threshold regulation to regulate the tax situation of hybrid employees working across borders is still under negotiation, according to the Dutch government.

^{© PHOTO RICHARD BROCKEN/HOLLANDSE HOOGTE}