RISKY BUSINESS: COMPLIANCE CONCERNS FOR A BUSINESS TRAVELER –

WITH the relative ease of travel across countries these days, the world has gotten smaller and just hop on a plane, get on a train or a cruise ship, or even just take a car ride to visit relatives and

In the business world, companies see this ease of travel as an opportunity to explore and enter set up in a new location, the usual practice is to send an expatriate to oversee operations and manage These expatriates stay for short or long-term assignments, ranging

Multinational companies that send a large number of expatriates to different countries even have systems in place to track where the expatriate is at any given pe immigration and tax risks related to the expatriate’s assignment is among the primary concerns of employers in maintaining these

Various stakeholders within companies, such as the Human - nance and Accounting divisions take the lead in ensuring that as the assignees run the risk of being deported or imprisoned, the right visas and permits should be in shift in tax residency, the assignees

In recent years, there has been a growing trend of sending individuals to other countries, not necessarily to manage the business or to stay in the host country for a business travelers are usually in the host country to visit suppliers or customers, work on projects, or attend meetings and engage in similar activities for periods of vary somewhat worrisome is that these business travelers are usually not Hence, the individual’s residency likely remains in the home country and compensation is also likely paid

This lack of visibility increases the immigration and tax risks that the individual may not be aware of and the company, though presumably able to assist in mitigating these risks, cannot do so due to

In the recent 2017 Southeast

ALVIN NOEL SALDAÑA

conducted by Deloitte, the surge in the number of business travelers within the region who face possible immigration and tax of enforcement and compliance risk within the region, as well as greater collaboration between agencies within the same country

- sues raised during that seminar: 1) Apart from the visa, is a working permit required of the business traveler, considering the limited scope of his visit? 2) If the purpose is only to attend meetings, trainings and conferences, is a work - vidual’s salary is paid in the home country and taxes are withheld and already paid in the home country, is the individual still required to pay taxes in the host country?

Some answers differ across Some are interesting, such as: Mere attendance in a conference, seminar, or meeting still requires a work permit as it is technically considered doing work; also, there is an obligation on the part of and pay taxes in the host country, even if salaries are paid and taxes

The bottom line is, companies should not take lightly, or for granted, the issues attendant to sending business travelers overseas or across real effects on the concerned par carefully consider these plans to ensure that both immigration and tax risks are checked and mitigated, especially since it is the individual -- the company’s precious asset in the host country -- who would be