Why hire through a PEO? When companies start expanding internationally, it is often important to “put boots on the ground” as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. The traditional approach of establishing a local entity and employing employees through the local entity may not always work due to the cost and time involved in setting up and maintaining the local entity and local payroll, as well as the complexity of establishing and administering supplementary benefits. Aside…
Sweden has not been a country previously featured in this blog, but we have become aware that the Swedish Tax Agency (the “STA”) has contacted several local employers in recent months to seek clarification on the amounts withheld in relation to equity award income and correct the reporting where needed. We believe it is possible that many more companies could be audited with respect to their equity award tax withholding practices in 2019 and beyond.…
Gender pay gap and pay equity are big discussion topics for companies around the world as more and more countries enact laws intended to close the gender pay gap and as case law develops involving discrimination claims related to pay equity. Beyond strictly legal obligations, many companies also face shareholder and employee pressure for increased transparency around diversity and gender pay. The Gender Pay Gap vs. Pay Equity In brief, the gender pay gap relates…
After discussing the issues for a tax deduction for share-based awards in Israel in my last blog, I wanted to revisit another tax deduction conundrum, this time in Canada. In the past, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) generally has not allowed a local tax deduction for the cost of share-settled awards (other than under very narrow circumstances). However, based on a technical interpretation released on April 12, 2017, the CRA updated its position such that…
I hope most of you have seen our client alert on the recent Israeli Supreme Court ruling that confirmed that stock-based compensation has to be included in the cost base of Israeli subsidiaries of multinational companies. As a result of the decision, we have already seen a flurry of activity as many companies are evaluating how to obtain a tax deduction for awards granted to Israeli employees. As a reminder, for companies with a cost-plus…
Background As most of you are aware, the collection, processing, use and transfer of personal data is regulated and restricted in most countries outside the US. This is especially true for countries in the EU and EEA, where any such action generally requires a valid basis, or risks being illegal. Compliance with EU data privacy requirements can be challenging for US-based multinationals which collect, process and transfer personal data of EU/EEA-based employees to administer the employees’…
If it seems that most of my blog posts are dedicated to France, then you are correct.
For this, we can blame the many changes that have been adopted to the French-qualified regime for RSUs over the last few years, most recently discussed in my post from April 2017. And, alas, another change is on the horizon.
The proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes some very concerning changes to the tax treatment of equity-based awards granted to U.S. taxpayers. Please review our alert on these changes. We will monitor the proposed bill closely so please check back frequently. Best regards, Barbara
When granting equity awards, one of the most important questions is the tax effect of such awards. Granting awards that have a negative tax impact on the employee or the company is counter-productive and should lead companies to consider other ways to incentivize their employees. On the other hand, should companies maximize the availability of favorable tax treatment for equity awards in certain countries? This is not an easy question to answer. Favorable Tax Treatment…
The Rise of Total Reward Statements Starting a few years ago, many companies embraced the use of Total Reward Statements (TRS) in which they tried to summarize all of the different compensation items paid to an employee in one statement, ostensibly to make it easier for an employee to see, at a glance, how much money they were actually making. A TRS usually includes base salary, bonus payments, commission payments and, of course, equity awards.…