Global mobility case study: Expatriate tax management

Client challenge

Regional HR required assistance with their expatriates and technical guidance for a number of their assignees.

Our client is a British-based company with global presence. We are engaged globally but Grant Thornton Singapore manage the assignees currently in the APAC region. Tax equalization was rolled out but the local regional team did not know how to manage this process.

They also had some more complicated cases such as employees with a dual Singapore/Chinese role.

Despite having had assignees for a number of years, they had not been compliant and having moved onto a tax equalized program wanted to ensure compliance to reassure their employees as well as minimize any risks from tax authorities challenging them.

The Grant Thornton solution

For the day to day assignment management, we assisted the employer with:

• Tax briefing meetings
• Tax return assistance in home and host location
• Hypothetical tax calculations and tax equalisation settlement calculations
• Advice on payroll and employment tax reporting obligations in each location.
• Review of their equity plan and summary of the tax implications for their employees in each country.

For their ad hoc assignees, we provided holistic proactive advice to assist them manage their tax exposure. This included moving their Singapore/Chinese employee onto a dual contract and assisting them with reporting in each jurisdiction to ensure compliance.

The Outcome

Their employees have a team that they can go to on their tax affairs allowing them to concentrate on their assignment. The employer is now compliant in respect of their assignees.