MEMBER EVENT: NAITA Trade Talks: Global Tax Implications of a COVID-19 World

NAITA Trade Talks: Global Tax Implications of a COVID-19 World
So your simple office environment has been thrown into total disarray by COVID-19? …Welcome to the Club.

After offices closed around the world, often stranding employees outside of their home country, the U.S. and other countries are trying to slowly and safely reopen where possible. As a result, business owners and employees are both struggling with a multitude of unique issues. Maintaining safety amidst this new normal, getting back to the old normal, as much as possible, and the continued need to work remotely in multiple countries and states, are all significant challenges faced by both employers and employees. The days of face-to-face meetings, in-person training and short-term on-site work assignments are still questionable. Boarding a plane for a foreign country could end up with employees reboarding and returning to the U.S. Then there are the quarantine issues to deal with… Welcome to the new world of business, whether that is defined as “Work from Home” or “Work from Anywhere.”

The challenges and uncertainty faced by employees and business owners are highlighted in the global and state payroll tax remittance and reporting world. Some considerations:

• An employee who was going to be in Germany for less than 90 days got stuck in-country for more than 7 months…how do you deal with the foreign tax ramifications of that?
• What is the impact on the employee as an individual and to you as the employer responsible for remitting and reporting state or foreign country income tax in similar cases?
• What tax and non-tax thresholds were unintentionally crossed in countries and states of “new” employment, for example as state unemployment, nonresident income tax, state disability and locality income taxes?
• That employee who previously worked full time in New York but is now working from home in Maryland…how do you handle that? Which state expects her income taxes? Hint – both do….

The decision tree can be a daunting climb, and the technology and awareness required to match the compliance requirements can be equally challenging. So how do you approach this? 

Register Now for NAITA’s Trade Talks Webinar on December 3 with Global Payroll and Tax expert Debbie McGee, President & CEO of PZI International, and U.S. Employment Tax expert Scott Schapiro, President, EX4 Payroll Consultants, to find out what you should be closely looking at before the year closes and countries/states come calling with that unexpected tax bill. Also discussed will be strategies and considerations going into 2021… as this remote environment seems far from over…