Compliance Updates To Expect In 2021

Every year, regulatory updates take place which impact our customers’ tax compliance. To help them with expense report compliance, we maintain historic rates as well as periodically updating mobilexpense with the current rates. We do this in a transparent manner which allows users to submit both past and current claims correctly.

Some changes take place during the year, such as the updates to VAT rates numerous EU countries put in place in 2020 to counteract the negative economic effects of the pandemic. However, many countries have, if not automatic, then regular updates in the new year.

Below is a list of the changes you can expect to see in different countries. For Mobilexpense users, these updates are automatic in the system and you don’t need to do anything if your organisation applies legal compliance measures and rates.

For anyone not using a travel and expense management system, we hope this can act as a useful checklist of points to keep in mind as one year rolls over into another.

1. Allowance rates updates in 2021

The following countries usually update their allowance rates on January 1^st each year. The rates are published around mid-December by the national authorities and updated accordingly with the appropriate start date in Mobilexpense as part of our routine compliance updates.

Other countries may also update their rates; however this is not automatic, and we check them each year to make sure we have the most up to date rates in the system. These countries include:

2. Mileage rates updates in 2021

The following countries annually update their mileage rates:

While these countries will occasionally publish an update:

• France
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Netherlands
• Slovakia

3. VAT rates updates in 2021

VAT rates do not tend to change annually as a rule; however we always check for updates proactively. In 2020, many updates were made around June to help balance the negative effects of the pandemic on the local economies.

These updates were all included in the solution for easy VAT recovery, including temporary and stepped measures. In some countries, rates returned to their pre-COVID numbers in 2021.

4. Holidays

Public holidays are important to keep in mind for traveling employees as salaries and allowances may be affected, thus affecting your budget.

These are loaded into the system every year for the countries where our customers are established including but not limited to:

Extra: holiday gifting

You may wish to show customers and employees that you value them with a gift such as a voucher or chocolates.

Keep in mind that there are non-taxable limits for gifts and that VAT deductibility rules apply. These are often different between customer and employee gifts, as well as varying by country.

If you intend to give any gifts this year and don’t use expense management software, we suggest you check the relevant regulations in your country and possibly that of the giftee. What you mean as a gesture of appreciation could have them paying additional taxes, so it’s a kindness to them to verify that, first.

Some countries where gifting rules apply include:

• Belgium
• France
• Sweden
• UK
• USA

Compliance can seem overwhelming in a list, but it doesn't have to be. If you don't use expense management software, you can find legal regulatory documentation published on the national authorities' websites.

And if you're a Mobilexpense customer, you can ring in the new year hassle-free, safe in the knowledge that it's all taken care of for you!

We wish you all the best this holiday season and look forward to hearing from you next year!