Reimbursement of costs. During their foreign business trips employees or managers have to incur numerous small expenses for which it is not always possible to obtain receipts. The tax administration and the National Social Security Office are therefore accepting a fixed reimbursement of the costs of meals and other small expenses, as long as the allowance for such expenses is reasonable. Such fixed cost allowances are considered reasonable if they do not exceed the daily fixed allowance paid by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to his officials.
The new amounts of these fixed allowances, applicable since 1 April 2009, are either lower (e.g. Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland), or higher (e.g. United States, Sweden) than the previous amounts. Previously a distinction was made for most countries, with regard to the determination of the amount of the allowance, between the capital, possibly other important cities and the rest of the country. In the new list such a distinction has not been made, except for the United States.
In principle these fixed cost allowances can only be granted for assignments with a short duration, i.e. for business trips up to 30 calendar days. If the business trip takes longer, only the costs justified by supporting evidence can be reimbursed free of taxes and social security contributions.
Employers’ contribution. An employer’s contribution to the purchase price of a personal (private) computer acquired by the employee is free from taxes up to a threshold of 550 euro per taxable period, provided that the gross taxable salary of the employee does not exceed 21,600 euro. This exemption is granted only once every three taxable periods.
Maternity leave. From 1 March 2009, maternity leave is spread over a period of nine weeks, starting on the date of delivery. If the employee worked on the date she gave birth, the period of nine weeks starts the following day. This period can be extended by the period during which the employee had continued to work between the sixth week (eighth week in case of a multiple birth) and second week prior to delivery.