COVID-19: France / Switzerland cross-border commuters - Employer tax certification requirement - Tax and Legal blog

Header blog France-Switzerland certificate
The tax agreement between France and Switzerland regarding cross-border workers mentions that employer certification is necessary for cross-border workers to be taxed in their country of employment (Switzerland), despite working from home in France during the COVID-19 crisis.

The agreement between France and Switzerland regarding taxation of cross-border workers is valid until 31 December 2020 (unless another extension is agreed). Based on this agreement, the tax authorities will apply to cross-border workers working from home the same tax treatment as when they physically crossed the border to their usual place of work.

According to the agreement, individuals who work from home, and who would have crossed the border daily to work in the other country in the absence of specific COVID-19 measures, should be in a position to provide an employer certification as well as proof of taxation in the country of employment (Switzerland) in order to have their professional income exempt from taxation in France.

It should be noted that cross-border workers who used to regularly work from home prior to the COVID-19 crisis and who used to be taxed in France on income linked to non-Swiss workdays, would be taxed in line with their usual work patterns and the employer certificate should reflect this as well.

Deloitte can support

Swiss employers will need to issue year-end certificates to their cross-border workers in order to validate their cross-border tax status.

This is an example of how the COVID-19 crisis is triggering additional employer year-end requirements. We recommend that employers also provide guidance as to the reason for the attestation and how it should be used.

Deloitte can support employers of cross-borders employees with this exercise.

Should you need any assistance with respect to this new requirement, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Key contacts

Renaat_Blog

Renaat Van den Eeckhaut – Partner, Global Employer Services Lead Switzerland 

Renaat leads the Global Employer Services (GES) Practice for Deloitte Switzerland. He specialises in international assignment and cross-border employment matters and advises on tax, social security and international mobility policies. Renaat has nearly 20 years of experience with Deloitte Belgium and Switzerland and has worked with many companies across a broad range of industries. Renaat holds a Master in Law and Accounting Law and has authored many publications on international taxation.

Email

D.Wigersma.110x110

David Wigersma - Partner, Global Employer Services

David has 20 years of experience in the area of international corporate and individual taxation planning. He specialises in addressing the complex compliance needs of a cross-border workforce with varied elements of compensation.

Richard Goodwin_110x110.2

Richard Goodwin - Partner, Global Employer Services 

Richard is a Partner within the Global Employer Services team of Deloitte in Switzerland. He is based in Geneva and specialised in Global Mobility. Richard has 20 years of experience in expatriate tax consulting with Deloitte across 5 countries. In addition he has a solid experience in leading an in-house major global mobility change project for a leading company from the Technology, Media & Telecommunications industry, including the review and implementation of the process, systems and technology required for a world class global mobility operation.

Email 

Séverine Morel 110x110

Séverine Morel - Manager, Global Employer Services 

Séverine is a Manager in our Global Employer Services practice in Geneva. She has 10 years of experience with all aspects of international tax and social security matters for employees and employers. Séverine is specialised in assisting Swiss based multi-national companies with mobility and relocation projects. She has recently joined the Global Workforce team and is now specialising in Global Workforce topics as well as on our partnership with Equus, delivering Assignment Pro implementations to Swiss based clients. Séverine has a very broad experience in cross-border environments and speaks French, English and Portuguese.

Email 

Comments

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.