Spain, among the countries with the least specific tax treatment for remote work | Economie

The return to remote work is taking shape in a big way these days with the sixth wave of the Covid pandemic progressing with amazing speed in Spain and in the rest of the surrounding countries.

In this return to remote work, generally from homes, many companies in Spain are trying to make this remote work less than 30% of the days, so that you do not have to pay worker expenses such as consumables (wifi, electricity or even rent in cases maximum demand from workers), as required by new Spanish law. Although if this percentage is not exceeded, the company is also obligated not to pay the expenses, but to provide the work materials, whether digital or not.

The tax treatment of all these perceptions is still not entirely clear in Spanish tax legislation. Indeed, Spain is among the European countries that have regulated remote work in the most detail recently, although the tax treatment – both for the company and the worker – for compensation expenses or for the provision of teleworking services leaves much to be desired.

The practical absence of specific tax regulations in this regard places Spain among the most unchecked neighboring countries in terms of tax idiosyncrasies.
With more precision in their tax regulations will be many countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, UK, Switzerland or Latvia. While Italy or Mexico will have few specific regulations similar to those of Spanish. Brazil, Denmark or Luxembourg will not have this list.

This is evidenced by a comprehensive comparative study conducted by the consulting firm KPMG Abogados, which analyzes the regulation of remote work in Spain and key European countries as well as American countries such as the United States, Mexico or Brazil.

This study revealed that the vast majority of countries “experience difficulties in regulating both the tax and social security treatment of different compensation models and the coverage of costs derived from telecommuting,” note the KPMG comparison authors. In fact, their main conclusion is that only 10% of countries have set some kind of specific financial standard regarding additional compensation or covering costs related to teleworking. Although another 27% will consider some type of implementation in their tax laws.

Spanish case

In the Spanish case, the new teleworking law does not specifically include the said tax treatment and in the absence of a specific regulation on tax matters, the tax experts of this consulting firm explain that in Spain this income or compensation can be treated in two ways. The first is, as a rule, from a business perspective, “Companies are expected to determine the costs and expenses of remote work for employees and pay them a cash amount that covers them completely (Wi-Fi, supplies, etc.)”. Such monetary compensation, if included in the payroll, as expected, would be subject to the usual deduction and taxes.

Second, the delivery of items necessary for remote work (computers, telephones, chairs, etc.) Although the new rule opened the door to personal and exclusive use of this company’s equipment, which, in the eyes of the treasury, could convert it into payments in kind subject to taxation. Again, only a specific exclusion of these substances in the law can clarify this question.

Outside of Spain, in countries that have taken steps forward in this matter, it has been observed that the vast majority of the new regulations have focused on establishing a tax system in a certain way for some of the different elements of compensation or costs associated specifically with telework, highlighting the particular interest in caring services Minors and dependents, office supplies, services and supplies, and salary supplements for telecommuting.

For the authors of this study, among European countries, the general tendency to place tax-exempt limits on said bonus items in the event that the costs are directly borne by the employer stands out, although there are very few regulations that are advertised at cost (particularly with regard to services, supplies or office supplies) borne directly by the employee.