The Importance of International Tax Assistance

by | Jul 13, 2017 | News

Global compensation management and tax compliance can both significantly impact an employee when relocating across country borders. Regardless of whether the relocation is permanent or simply a short-term assign­ment, all relocation-related expenses will likely raise tax issues in both departure and destination countries.

This is why it is critical that the potential tax exposure from relocation reimbursements be monitored so that accurate tax returns can be filed in both the old and new country locations.

U.S. Employees’ Unique Tax Obligation

U.S. citizens are required to file taxes on their global income regardless of where it was earned and in addition to the tax fil­ings required in the country of assignment. When an employee transfers out of the U.S., they must still file a U.S. Federal Income tax return. However, the U.S. does provide a foreign tax credit that can be applied to the employee’s return, which means the amount owed in the U.S. could be nothing or a neg­ligible amount, but they are still required to file.

The Importance of Tax Equalization

It is strongly suggested that you provide tax equalization for employees relocating inter­nationally. This allows your employee to pay taxes as they would in their original country, with you covering the difference. This benefit is becoming more common because it taxes people at the same amount had they never taken an assignment. You would then cover the cost of the host location tax and any ad­ditional U.S. obligation that may be incurred.

For example, let’s say you are moving an employee from the U.S. to Italy. The employ­ee has a $28,000 income tax liability to Italy, but their U.S. liability would only be $25,000. You would then pay the additional $3,000 to the Italian tax authorities on your employee’s behalf.

**It is essential that the employee remain tax compliant while on assignment or after a permanent transfer. Failure to report income accurately makes the employee liable; however, if the company does not provide any support or assistance, then you run the risk of being seen as complicit as well.

How WHR Group Can Help

WHR Group provides a complete framework for tracking all expenses associated with an employee’s assignment or permanent trans­fer across borders. The data is collected and broken down into what was paid and which country the payments originated from. All of this information is then provided to a local tax expert in the relevant countries so that the appropriate tax filings can be completed. This process ensures that the employee has filed taxes in the correct countries and that the taxable relocation expenses have been considered as well.

This Service Can Make or Break a Relocation

by | Jun 22, 2017 | News

Dual-Career Assistance: The one service that can make or break a relocation

When planning your global relocation program, you need to consider the relocating spouse/partner’s situation as well.

<img alt="dual career assistance">,<img alt="WHR Group">,<img alt="employee relocation company">

More often than not, the employee’s spouse/partner has their own career, so moving to a new location means they most likely have to leave that career behind, along with the family’s secondary income.

More on Dual-Career Assistance

Understandably, the impact of relocation on the career of a spouse/partner can be a major hurdle. WHR Group offers third-par­ty programs that can help address this important concern and provide support services, such as assisting with career/résumé counseling and offering access to local networking groups.

Dual-Career Assistance helps relocating families better adjust to a new loca­tion as a whole. Common benefits for a spouse/partner receiving this service include:

  • Pre-assignment counseling
  • Finding networking opportunities
  • Résumé preparation
  • Interview skill assessment
  • One-on-one coaching
  • Acquiring work permits
  • Job search assistance

Why is Dual-Career Assistance important?

The employee’s spouse/partner should be aware of existing obstacles to finding employment and maintaining a career after relocating. They also need to under­stand the many personal, professional, and financial implications that the reloca­tion might pose, especially if moving to a different country.

However, providing Dual-Career Assistance as part of your global relocation program can be the deciding factor on whether or not your employee will accept the re­location opportunity. Not only does this service minimize any financial risk to the relocating family, it also allows the spouse/partner to feel just as included and purposeful as the relocating employ­ee and avoid the struggle of finding work in their new surroundings.

The Importance of Immigration Assistance

by | Jun 8, 2017 | News

Immigrating to a new country requires several steps, so it can often be difficult for an employ­ee to decide where to start after receiving their new international assignment.

Every country has its own immigration laws and requirements that will need to be followed for the employ­ee to have a successful relocation. Providing Immigration Assistance as a formal relocation benefit will help your employees get started on their move and, ultimately, reduce their stress throughout the process of settling in abroad.

Here are three tasks to have your employees complete immediately.

1. Applying for a Passport

All relocating family members will require passports for the upcoming move, which is why it should be the first item acquired.

A passport is necessary for travel, work visa applications, and school applications. Typically, this is the easiest document to obtain, but can take 6-8 weeks from the time of application to delivery; however, this timeframe can be expedited for an extra fee.

At WHR Group, the Relocation Counselor will en­sure the employee and family obtain passports in a timely manner and confirm any existing passports do not expire within the next year, in which case the employee will want to have them renewed to avoid any future issues.

2. Applying for a Work Visa

If your employee is going to perform any work in a new country, they will be required to have a work visa, even if it is just for a short-term assignment. This is arguably the most important document required in an international reloca­tion, since an employee’s ability to perform work depends on it. The employee should start the application process as soon as possible, as it can take weeks to months before the visa is approved (depending on the destination coun­try’s regulations).

The following documentation may be required for a work visa application but not limited to:

  • Passports for each family member
  • Birth and marriage certificates
  • Divorce/adoption papers
  • Additional passport photo(s)

3. Asking Questions

Moving abroad can seem like an overwhelming process, which is why your employee is going to have questions, especially if this is the first time they have relocated internationally. They should inform their Relocation Counselor of any questions, concerns, or fears as early in the process as possible. This will ensure the relocation company provides employee-specific consultative services by helping them better understand their benefits, new position, and what is required of them.

With the help of their Relocation Counselor, Destination Service Pro­vider, and your HR department, we aim to offer the employee a smooth transition into their new country.

How WHR Group Can Help

Our aim is to coordinate and manage this pro­cess with the relevant authorities on behalf of the employee, which is why we provide assis­tance and advice in securing visas/work per­mits through our approved partners. We work closely with these partners to provide a variety of methods to monitor, measure, and improve the quality of services delivered. During this process, we also work closely with HR units to ensure all paperwork and visas are compliant and all activity is recorded.

Find out More about the Benefits You Should Offer to Your International Assignees

Click Here

The Changing “Single Point of Contact”

by | May 11, 2017 | News

A recent Deloitte article has rightfully called to question the necessity (and logistical possibility) of a true single point of contact (SPOC) within the relocation management process.

Take a moment to picture the intricacies of the relocation process, especially for international relocations. In the era of customer choice, transferees are faced with more options than ever when it comes to moving across borders. Deloitte explains that a SPOC for the full length of a relocation “would have to be a bona fide specialist in customs, immigration, travel, equity, home sale, employment law, and tax, among others.”

We all know that relocating is one of the most stressful events of a person’s life, which is why it’s obvious for companies like WHR Group to want to streamline the relocation process and reduce as much stress as possible for transferees. But is one person truly capable of being the subject matter expert on topics ranging from real estate to immigration?

Rather than a SPOC, WHR Group and Deloitte make the case for finding the best point of contact in today’s diverse relocation environment: “The goal should not be one point of contact, but rather the best contacts at the right movements, working together toward a common end… Experience shows that no one single person can navigate this environment as effectively as a well-organized team.”

Think of it this way: Would you rather have your transferees counseled by someone who has some knowledge of many things, or a network of people each with expert knowledge on one thing? If you’re looking for higher service scores, lower risk, and happier employees, the answer is the latter. And while WHR agrees that subject matter experts (SMEs) are critical in the relocation process, it is also the relocation provider’s responsibility to be a provider that knows the best SMEs, in their respective fields, and brings them to the table in a single-coordinated fashion for the relocating employee.

The relocation service model should bring the right people, with the right skills, at the right time for the benefit of the relocating employee. We agree that not one person can be the subject matter expert for all services, and we need to recognize our limitations as a provider. So having a skilled network of providers working behind the SPOC is the value that a relocation management company brings (and without requiring the transferee to talk to multiple points of contact). An unparalleled supply chain is what differentiates one supplier over another.

There are two reasons why WHR Group is a proponent of having a network of specialists supporting a relocation, rather than just relying on one advocate:

1. Having specialists from different relocation functions to form one network for transferees helps avoid bias.

  • WHR Group has separate Referral, Appraisal, Inventory, and Equity departments to make sure no one person is affecting the outcome of things like the listing process and, ultimately, the home sale.

2. It frees up the main Relocation Counselor’s time for higher attention to detail while functioning as a moderator instead of a SPOC.

  • While a Relocation Associate and ancillary departments assist with relocation logistics, the Relocation Counselor is able to spend more time getting to know the transferee’s unique needs and making sure every service provided through the network of specialists is in line with those needs. This translates directly into cleaner performance and higher satisfaction.

For more information on why this “network approach” is best for your transferees, read the original article here: The Emerging Model Shift in Global Talent Mobility.

Goodbye White Picket Fence: The Shifting Renter Profile

by | Mar 9, 2017 | News

Marquette University’s Chair in Real Estate, Dr. Mark Eppli, once posed to WHR Group a hypothesis that—based on the strong emphasis on sustainability and the powerful fear created in the millennial generation while watching their parents struggle through the most recent financial crisis—the American Dream of owning a home in the suburbs is changing.

Rising Stats on Rent

The reality today is that the number of renters has significantly increased in major metros across the country, and research shows an increase in renting at almost all age groups. As Dr. Eppli alluded, some of this shift can be traced back to millennials who are cautious about putting down roots and are already strapped with debt from student loans.

But it’s not just millennials. According to a recent Harvard study, America’s Rental Housing: Expanding options for diverse and growing demand, Baby Boomers have also been inflating the demand for rental housing: either through the real estate crash that forced them to build back their credit score, or for those looking to downsize into retirement. “While households in their 20s make up the single largest share [of renters], households aged 40 and over now account for a majority of all renters.” (Harvard study)

“The decade-long surge in rental demand is unprecedented. In mid-2015, 43 million families and individuals lived in rental housing, up nearly 9 million from 2005 — the largest gain in any 10-year period on record.”

-America’s Rental Housing Study, 2015

Today’s Renter Profile

As the trend to rent has continued upward, it has put substantial pressure on the rental market and costs. The National Association of Realtors found that, while rent has risen 15 percent over a five-year period, renters’ income grew only by 11 percent. The accelerating prices require more of a worker’s salary than in the past for the same rental units. This gap also makes it nearly impossible for renters to save for a down payment to transition into a homeowner.

Interestingly, one factor that does not seem to impact homeownership is having children. Harvard’s America’s Rental Housing study shows families with children are renting just as much as individuals.

Managing the Rental Demand in Relocation

Researchers are hoping relief for high rental demand can come from supply of new construction of both multi-unit rental properties as well as single-family rental homes. The response thus far has been slow, as many builders were put out of business during the market slowdown. Luckily, more research from the National Association of Realtors found that builder confidence is up.

The best ways for employers to support their employees in this growing renter population is to realize that their profile is changing. Many will need more than a U-Haul to move their items during a relocation. Since some employees will be renting single-family homes, the lease cancellation fees can be higher, and the need for rental assistance in specific school districts is becoming more common. Employers would be wise to review the renter support they currently offer to ensure it matches the needs of the people and families they are moving.

For additional information on the changing rental market, check out the full Harvard study here: America’s Rental Housing: Expanding options for diverse and growing demand.

The Changing Talent Landscape

by | Feb 9, 2017 | News

The “American dream” is known to include a home in the suburbs, but due to nationwide housing shortages and crippling student debt, people simply aren’t able to settle in the suburbs. (And they aren’t working there either.)
In fact, of the over 300,000 jobs created in Illinois in the past six years, nearly 90% of them were added in the Chicago metro area.

This flush of downtown talent isn’t exclusive to Chicago. Big cities across the nation are seeing a revival thanks to the large percentage of younger generations living in downtown areas.

Data reveals that more young people are living in the biggest U.S. cities than anytime since the 1970s.This makes it difficult for employers to fill open positions at their suburban headquarters as Baby Boomers are retiring.

It’s for this reason that companies are uprooting their quiet offices for higher rent but more plentiful talent in downtown office space.

Of course, not every company can afford to relocate its headquarters in order to have more local access to a larger talent pool. So, what can you do to remain a viable employer option for candidates that favor big-city living?

For those relocating to your office, add a sign-on bonus to your benefit offering. Already offer this benefit? Consider benchmarking your existing relocation policy to find other benefits to help attract talent to your area.

You also need to offer office perks that highlight a desirable workplace culture.

Younger generations value work-life balance more so than prior generations. They seek perks such as on-site cafeterias, on-site health classes or complimentary gym memberships, and flexible work schedules that allow them to work based on their energy levels versus strict start and end times.

Additional perks like mileage reimbursement can also help convince candidates that your suburban positions are worth the daily trek from the city. In fact, Wisconsin-based company Trek (located in a small suburb outside of Madison) offers an incentive to employees who bike to work.

Remote work flexibility is another value-add that many young job candidates seek. Offering even just one day per week for your employees to work remotely can help ease the idea of a commute for city-dwellers. Plus, remote work opportunities have been shown to increase employee engagement, happiness, and productivity levels.

With the bulk of today’s younger job candidates unable to save for a home in the suburbs, you need to be creative in attracting from this talent pool, especially if you’re competing with existing downtown employers.