Author:
Eric Loff – Global Tax Network
The tax cost of an international assignment can be significant and companies struggle to find ways to manage these costs. This article outlines two straightforward strategies for reducing the tax costs of your expatriate program.
Where do those excess taxes come from anyway?
Excess tax costs associated with an international assignment include the actual taxes paid by the employer on behalf of the employee which exceed the employee’s tax burden as calculated under the company’s tax equalization policy. But don’t worry. There are a variety of tax planning techniques that can reduce these excess tax costs. Two common ones are:
- Paying benefits-in-kind in lieu of cash payments
- Proper timing of the assignment
Read on to learn how these tax savings strategies work. Continue reading →
Author:
Jennifer Stein – Global Tax Network
When individuals relocate, they are bombarded with many changes at once. You may hear the phrase: So much to do, so little time. They may be tempted to skip part or all of the relocation process. Here we’ll discuss three questions related to orientation meetings.
- Why do we need to provide international assignees with orientation meetings?
- What should be covered during the orientation meetings with an international assignee?
- When should this information be provided to the international assignee?
Continue reading →
Posted in Cross Cultural Insights, Expatriate Taxation, Expatriates, Global Mobility Services, Relocation, Talent Management
Tagged expatriate, expats, Global HR, International Assignments, international hr, Relocation
Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC
This is the second part of a five-part series, where we present checklists to help international HR professionals plan and manage long-term international assignments. There are five stages we identified for long-term assignment management:
Click to Enlarge
In part one of this series, we looked at candidate assessment, selection and approval. In this installment, we will examine Assignment Planning.
Continue reading →
Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC
If you are an international HR practitioner, then you have probably had to deal with long-term international assignments. They can be complex, with many different people involved, both internal resources and external suppliers and vendors.
One of the best ways to ensure all the necessary steps are followed is to use checklists. These are simple yet extremely useful devices that will help you stay on track with your international assignees. A recommended approach is to develop a checklist for each of the common assignment stages or events that occur, including:
Continue reading →
Posted in Expatriate Recruitment, Expatriate Selection, Expatriates, Global HR Expertise, Global Mobility Services, International Assignee Recruitment, International Assignee Selection, Talent Management
Tagged expatriate, International Assignments, international hr, Talent Management
Author:
Mary Lou Stockton – Global Tax Network
A US company sends an employee on assignment to the UK. The company informs the employee that they will pay X amount for his UK housing. The employee wants to spend more, because he wants a larger, nicer flat. He feels the allowance is not enough for the type of flat he wants considering his family needs, including the fact that his wife wanted to live near other Americans.
The HR Director works with the business manager to determine whether the company would pay more in this case. The employee is told that he will have to reimburse the company for excess housing cost through payroll. The employee contends that he should get a tax deduction on his hypo tax for the excess housing that he funded. The issue went to the tax accountant and finally to the company VP for resolution. The VP asks why he is being asked to resolve assignment allowance issues and tells HR that they should “handle it”. The HR Director considers transferring to something less complicated, like nuclear engineering or cell biology.
It does seem expats take a disproportionate percentage of HR’s available time, and require much more administration than one would expect. The trend in HR today is towards “self-service”. Why do we need such detailed and centralized control of assignment expenses and allowances?
Why can’t I just give assignees some extra money to handle the costs of an international assignment?
Continue reading →
The International HR Forum is proud to be a Partner Organization for the upcoming North East Totally Expat Show on 3 April in New York. The event is just three weeks away! It will be the largest global mobility event ever held in New York. So, if you are in the New York Metro area, or if you are able to travel, register now!
Here are 10 killer reasons why you should register today: Continue reading →
Posted in Expatriate Payroll, Expatriate Recruitment, Expatriate Selection, Expatriate Taxation, Expatriates, Global Mobility Services, Immigration, Insurance, International Assignee Recruitment, International Assignee Selection, Repatriation
Tagged expatriate, Expatriate Payroll, expats, International Assignments, Repatriation
Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC
Have you heard about the Totally Expat Show sponsored by the Forum for Expatriate Management? This group has hosted several very successful exhibitions designed for global mobility professionals.
This year, the International HR Forum will be represented at the New York Show on April 3rd. Birches Group LLC will have a booth in the Exhibition Hall — stop by and introduce yourself as one of our loyal readers.
Check out the details on our NY Totally Expat Show page.
When you register, please be sure to mention you saw the event on the International HR Forum! And if you want to, leave a comment if you will be there, so we can look for you.
Posted in Expatriate Payroll, Expatriate Recruitment, Expatriate Selection, Expatriate Taxation, Expatriates, Global Mobility Services, International Assignee Recruitment, International Assignee Selection
Tagged Expat Schooling, expatriate, Expatriate Payroll, Expatriate Tax, expats, International Assignments, Repatriation
Join us at the New York Totally Expat Show on 3 April
The Forum for Expatriate Management’s Totally Expat Show will be returning to New York on 3 April 2012. We will also be visiting Chicago for our Mid West Show on 1 June 2012.
- North East USA at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York on 3rd April 2012 – Register to Attend
- Mid West USA at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Chicago on 1st June 2012 – Register to Attend
The International HR Forum is a proud partner organization of The Forum for Expatriate Management, and Birches Group LLC will be attending the New York Totally Expat Show on 3 April 2012. Do come along and visit us. With over 500 attendees, this is likely to be the biggest Global Mobility event ever held in New York.
These truly unique global mobility events will include a major exhibition with a large number of leading service providers and a rolling program of seminars (which will be certified by HRCI for GPHR credits).
Entry is entirely FREE for corporate HR professionals. Just Register to Attend!
Service Providers can attend for just $290 for FEM Members ($350 for non-Members). Just Register to Attend!
Topics to be covered are listed below. For full descriptions of the topics, see the seminar program. Additional speakers and topics will be announced shortly.
- Meet the Experts – Global Immigration Compliance Trends
Experts from Fragomen and other leading specialists
- Latest Trends in Global Mobility Policy and Practices
Debra Frost, Vice President, Client Services, Cartus
William Sheridan, Vice President, National Foreign Trade Council
- Business Process Automation in Global Mobility
Mark Rabe, VP Business Development, Equus Software
- US Reporting Requirements for Foreign Assets – What Global Mobility Managers need to know
Beth Penfold and Katrina Haynes, Grant Thornton
- An Overview for Companies new to Expatriation
Pat Jurgens, Director of Tax for AIRINC
- Emerging Trends in Global Mobility Transformation
Glen Collins, Senior Manager, International Executive Services, KPMG
- Technology and Global Mobility – The Next Generation
Frank Patitucci, CEO NuCompass Mobility
- Strategic Intercultural Support: Insuring the ROI on the International Assignment
Dean Foster, President and founder, DFA Intercultural Global Solutions
- Is Cross Cultural Training really worth it?
Diane McGreal, Director Berlitz Global Leadership Training, Americas Region
- Spousal assistance : overview of best practices based on a global sampling of 200 multinational corporations
Alain Verstandig, President and Denise Michelle Starrett, Senior Consultant NET EXPAT Inc
- Managing the Global Mobility Function
Brian Friedman, Founder and CEO, Forum for Expatriate Management
Register to Attend!
Just these Corporate Attendees
AIG * Amphenol TCS * Associated Press * AXA Equitable * Axiom Law * BNP Paribas * Boehringer Ingelheim * Bunge Limited * Citibank * Citicorp * Coach * Columbia University * Corning Incorporated * Covance Inc. * Criteo * D&B * Deloitte * Discovery Communications * Dragados USA * DSM Services USA * Fidessa corporation * Foot Locker Inc. * Harris * HSBC * IBM * ING Financial Services * Ingersoll Rand Company * JPMorgan Chase * KPMG LLP * Marsh & McLennan Companies * MetLife * Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP * Morgan Stanley * Nielsen * Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation * NYSE Euronext * NYU * PTC * Ralph Lauren * Resources Global Professionals * Sikorsky Aircraft Corporate * Sony Music Entertainment * Teach For All * Terex Corporation * The Hershey Company * The NPD Group Inc. * The Royal Bank of Scotland * Tiffany * Towers Watson * Toys’R’Us * UNDP * Unilever * United Technologies Corporation * White & Case LLP * William J. Clinton Foundation *
Posted in Expatriate Payroll, Expatriate Recruitment, Expatriate Selection, Expatriate Taxation, Expatriates, Global Mobility Services, Immigration, International Assignee Recruitment, International Assignee Selection, International Payroll
Tagged Expat Schooling, expatriate, Expatriate Payroll, Expatriate Tax, expats, International Assignments, Repatriation
Guest Author:
Rachel Yates – Definingmoves.com
[Editor’s Note: We are very excited to share with you the assignee’s spouse perspective on international relocation, from someone who has lived through five such moves. Rachel Yates edits a website, Defining Moves, devoted to assisting relocating families around the world. ]
I read the post from May, 2011 by Warren Heaps about global mobility policies for the 21st century on this site, and found it to be fascinating, mainly because I am part of the changing demographics Warren described. On paper, we are the traditional relocating family; husband as assignee, spouse as the accompanying partner, and two dependent children. We have relocated through three continents over the last 10 years, and we have struggled. And we are most definitely not alone.
So what do relocating individuals and families really need from HR?
Continue reading →
Posted in Expatriates, Global HR Expertise, Global Mobility Services, Policy Development, Relocation, Repatriation, Talent Management
Tagged expatriate, expats, flexible assignments, Global HR, Repatriation, Talent Management
Author:
Warren Heaps – Birches Group LLC
It’s now almost the middle of 2011, so the 21st century is well underway. The new realities of global business are upon us:
- Companies are expanding from developed countries into new, high-growth markets in the developing world in record numbers.
- Global talent is being snatched up across borders on a regular basis.
- Companies are sending expats to new locations, and breaking new ground with each assignment.
- Companies headquartered in developing markets like India, China, Brazil and South Africa, to name a few, are expanding along with multi-nationals from more established markets.
- Demographic shifts will result in an increasing number of workers being sought from developing countries to replace the ageing workforce in North America and Europe. In fact, McKinsey predicts that by the year 2040, the largest working-age population in the world will reside in Africa.
So what does this have to do with global mobility? A lot!
Continue reading →
Posted in Compensation, Expatriate Recruitment, Expatriate Selection, Expatriates, General, Global HR Expertise, Global Mobility Services, International Assignee Recruitment, International Assignee Selection, International Expertise, Repatriation, Talent Management
Tagged Compensation, expatriate, expats, flexible assignments, Global HR, International Assignments, international hr, salary structures
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