The business world is becoming increasingly global and interconnected and organisations are implementing virtual remote working and working holiday policies.
Operations are also increasingly being brought online, in locations outside a group’s existing geographical footprint, to benefit from pools of skilled labour using a multitude of different engagement models and global or multi-region employment tax roles are developing within organisations.
This means employers are increasingly having to navigate across multiple jurisdictions with numerous tax and regulatory authorities who have a heightened focus on employment tax and Social Security obligations.
Whilst businesses undoubtedly gain from having an increasingly mobile and geographically dispersed workforce, in terms of key talent retention, access to a broader talent pool and a more productive and engaged workforce, this can create tax and regulatory issues which, uncontrolled, may lead to exposure further down the line.
PwC’s employment tax team can help you navigate these complexities whilst maximising the benefits for both your people and your business of embracing a global mindset when developing a talent strategy.
Whenever people travel internationally within your business, or work for your organisation from overseas, understanding the tax consequences can be fundamental. Issues you could face can be broken down into two distinct problems:
- Global employment tax
- Cross border employment tax
Global employment tax
Day to day operational responsibilities are often spread across the organisation, between functions and geographies, with the employment tax manager having limited oversight, or managerial responsibility of the transactions which give rise to tax risk and an unfamiliarity with the tax rules and approaches of the tax authority outside their base location. This creates enhanced risk when it comes to running a global or regional employment tax function.
Cross border employment tax
Cross border working is on the rise and creates a number of unique challenges in facilitating business activities whilst minimising risk of tax exposure, compliance costs and increased employer social security. Key populations include: business travellers, virtual remote workers, non resident directors, cross border commuters, multi state workers and international contractors.
How we can help
We have a truly global and holistic approach to helping you manage the tax consequences of cross border working and business travel. We recognise that there is no one size fits all solution to harnessing the advantages of new ways of working. Our multidisciplinary tax teams can advise on the employment tax aspects of a global workforce alongside the wider tax considerations, including permanent establishment and residence, transfer pricing and indirect taxes.
We have a range of technology enablers and different service delivery models that can be tailored to produce a best in class solution to your challenges. change client's to clients' problems.
We can support you to address your global and cross border workforce needs including:
- Global Employment Tax as a managed service.
- Design of employment tax governance and controls frameworks.
- Business traveller reporting and compliance.
- Virtual remote worker policy design and assessment.
- Social security analysis and A1/Certificate of coverage applications.
- Advice and compliance services related to: non-resident directors, multi-state works and cross border commuters.
- Global Employment Companies.
- Multi jurisdiction and cross border dispute management.
- Analysis of international and cross border contractors including status and disguised employment provisions.
- Multi jurisdiction expense analytics.
Contact us
Partner, Employment and Payroll Consulting, PwC United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)7808 030257
