The government, more specifically the Ministry of Finance, admits that it has set a maximum ceiling up to which payments for expenses for telecommuting without an invoice, such as energy and telecommunications, should not be taxed as is currently the case with the tax authorities. In practice, the manager studies a mechanism very similar to the one that exists today for the meal allowance: up to 5.20 euros per day, this bonus is exempt, if it is paid by transfer with the salary; when using a card, the daily tax-free value rises to 8.32 euros. This is a hypothesis, but other solutions may be on the table.
What is certain is that the Minister of Labor, Ana Mendes Godinho, acknowledged this Wednesday that “the IRS free telecommuting costs are being evaluated at the appropriate headquarters”, that is, at the Ministry of Finance, he said leaving a plenary meeting of the Social Concert. Earlier, the President of the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP), Eduardo Oliveira e Sousa, revealed that “in the context of the telecommuting costs, CAP has asked the Secretaries of State for Labor and Tax Affairs to determine the tax-free amount”. Employers have urged the government to set a limit to what payments to employees for telecommuting expenses are tax-free, even without presenting the relevant invoice.
It is recalled that in a response to Dinheiro Vivo earlier this month, the Tax Authorities (AT) clarified that “the payment of an amount as monetary compensation to cover the increase in costs resulting from the provision of work in the teleworking regime , with no direct connection to the actual additional costs incurred by the employee, determines taxation based on the IRS,” the AT explains. In this case, and according to Article 2 of the IRS Code, the compensation for the increase in telecommuting costs takes the form of a premium or subsidy and as such will always have to be IRS liable. Only “reimbursements of additional costs borne by the telecommuting employee are exempt, if duly proven and approved”, the tax authorities emphasized.
Paying compensations without invoice IRS, the AT clarifies. But parliament passed an amendment to the law on remote work that provides for the definition of an amount to be paid for the additional costs.
At the end of last year, however, the deputies of the Agenda Decent Work working group approved a proposal to amend the Left Bloc that provides for recording the value of additional costs in contracts for the provision of telework, without proof of the higher energy or telecommunication costs, for example related to remote working. That is why the government is now considering setting a ceiling on the exemption from these fees, in this case in the form of a subsidy.
In the absence of an agreement between employer and employee, the method of measuring additional costs will now take into account the same month of face-to-face work, according to the new standard, which means that it is necessary to measure the increase in costs through of invoices.
Support for the long-term unemployed
The Social Dialogue also served for the government to submit a proposal to the social partners for new exceptional support for those who have not been active on the labor market for more than 12 months. The measure makes it possible to accrue up to 65% of the unemployment benefit with the salary up to a maximum monthly wage of 3040 euros (four times the value of the national minimum wage). The support gradually decreases: between the 13th and 18th month of unemployment, the person can build up the salary with 65% of the unemployment benefit; between the 19th and 24th month the percentage drops to 45%; and between the 25th month and the end of the grant period it becomes 25%.
The aid granted automatically should be in effect from July this year. “The aim is to approve and regulate the measure this month through a legal diploma, with the aim of entering into force in the second half of 2023,” said Minister Ana Mendes Godinho. According to the official, it is an initiative that “aims to respond to the difficulties of re-entering the labor market for the long-term unemployed and to ensure that social security costs do not increase”. Support for the long-term unemployed “will be given directly to the worker” and automatically applied to those who meet the conditions, he added.
On the Work Compensation Fund (BKR), another topic discussed with the social partners during the meeting, the minister said that the suspension of compensation by companies for the fund will come into effect with the Decent Work Agenda, the process of which is still in Parliament.
Salomé Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
