Contributions Droit fiscal

Commuters and remote working

The (in)adequacy of international tax treaties

Francesca Amaddeo

Proposition de citation: Francesca Amaddeo, Commuters and remote working, in : Jusletter 11 avril 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic forced jurisdictions to address new circumstances as emergency legislation has been adopted. The labor market is moving from physical presence to an alternative way of work, such as remote working. The author addresses the issue from the fiscal perspective, analysing the arising need for rules able to address the phenomenon of cross-border commuters working from their residence State (or abroad). This article aims to stress the more critical points, evaluating if the basis set in mutual agreements signed by States, following the OECD’s guidelines on interpretation and application of tax treaties, may represent a start or if a more profound change is deemed necessary.

Table des matières

1. Introduction
2. Cross-border workers: from the definition to the conventional tax regime
- 2.1. Definition of frontier worker
- 2.2. Conventional provisions on cross-border workers: article 15 OECD Model and the taxation of income from employment
- 2.3. Frontier workers’ uncertainty in the COVID-19 pandemic
- 2.4. From teleworking to telecommuting
3. A Swiss overview on commuters
- 3.1. Some numbers
- 3.2. Cross-border workers: agreements with neighboring countries
  - 3.2.1. Austria
  - 3.2.2. Germany
  - 3.2.3. Liechtenstein
  - 3.2.4. France
  - 3.2.5. Italy
    - 3.2.5.1. The 1974 Agreement on frontier workers between Switzerland and Italy
    - 3.2.5.2. The 1974 Agreement and pandemic troubles
    - 3.2.5.3. The 2020 Agreement on cross border workers between Switzerland and Italy
4. Conclusive remarks