The topic of working from home in a neighbouring country poses many difficulties. Most of them still need to be clarified at European and political level. It is still unclear what future regulations might look like. This is currently unsettling businesses and employees in the border region, because actually neither side can or wants to do without it.
For this reason, the GrenzInfoPunkt Aachen-Eurode organised a business breakfast on the topic together with the Eurode Business Center (EBC) on 8 March 2023. Here, all businesses, self-employed persons and employees based in the EBC were invited to be informed – and to network. The special thing about it is that the EBC is located exactly on the border between Germany and the Netherlands and therefore accommodates tenants from both countries, including employees, companies and self-employed people. Not least because of the newly established co-working space, which is intended to facilitate cross-border working on a mobile level (i.e. without having to travel to the office).
At the business breakfast, which was well attended despite the bad weather conditions, the main topic was the changes to be expected if there are no new regulations and the legal status of before Corona comes back into force. “This cannot be ruled out at this stage. Therefore, those affected should definitely get well informed,” affirms Heike Xhonneux, head of the GrenzInfoPunkt Aachen-Eurode.
The Corona special regulations for income tax already expired last year. Since then, income tax must once again be paid where work is actually done. In the case of cross-border workers, this means that for the home office it is actually paid in the country of residence, and for office days in the country of the employer. In the middle of this year, the special conditions with regard to social security will follow. Many different things fall into this category, and the situation becomes correspondingly unclear for those affected. Negotiations between the individual states are already in full swing here. However, a practical solution, such as that agreed between Germany and Austria or Germany and the Czech Republic, is not yet in sight for our region. As soon as there is new information here, you will hear it from us. On social media or here on grenzinfo.eu.