With the entry into force of Law 83/2021, of 6 December, the Labour Code provides for the payment, to employees, of additional expenses, corresponding to the acquisition of goods and/or services that the employee did not have before the telework agreement was entered into. The amount of compensation to be paid by the employer is calculated by comparison with the costs incurred in the same month of the last year before the worker was teleworked, by presenting the respective supporting documents for that month and the supporting documents of the month to which the increase of costs relates.
The AT's understanding is that, when the employee presents the respective supporting documents, the payments provided to the employee constitute compensation for the additional expenses due by the telework regime (i) not being considered income for IRS purposes and (ii) constituting an expense for the employer.
A different situation occurs when the payment is made by the employer through a fixed amount without any document supporting the realization of those expenses, or when the employee does not prove the expenses actually incurred. In this case, the compensation for the increase in teleworking costs takes the form of a premium or extra allowance and, as such, it will always have to be subjected to IRS.
In this situation, the employer must reflect the cash compensation paid in the Monthly Remuneration Statement, under the subject income.
Although there is still – as far as we know - no identical understanding by Social Security, this entity may follow the same reasoning disclosed by AT. In fact, we recall that the list of article 46 of the Social Security Contributions Regime Code is merely exemplificative and that the payment of a pecuniary compensation (namely the regularity of the payment) may be similar to other remunerations mentioned therein.
In conclusion, for the purposes of evidencing the additional expenses, incurred by the employee, when teleworking, the agreement established between the employee and the employer must be considered, namely the number of days of teleworking and the number of people in the household teleworking, among other indicators, as well as the evidence of the increase of expenses through the documentation/invoicing presented by the employee.
The Labour Law Department at Belzuz Abogados is providing legal advice on the drafting of telework agreements and telework policies/regulations to be implemented in companies, in order to comply with the legal rules in force.
Belzuz Abogados SLP
A presente Nota Informativa destina-se a ser distribuída entre Clientes e Colegas e a informaçăo nela contida é prestada de forma geral e abstracta, năo devendo servir de base para qualquer tomada de decisăo sem assistęncia profissional qualificada e dirigida ao caso concreto. O conteúdo desta Nota Informativa năo pode ser utilizada, ainda que parcialmente, para outros fins, nem difundida a terceiros sem a autorizaçăo prévia desta Sociedade. O objectivo desta advertęncia é evitar a incorrecta ou desleal utilizaçăo deste documento e da informaçăo, questőes e conclusőes nele contidas.
