What is an expat payroll?

With so many large businesses operating on an international level, the number of employees required to go abroad for their work is increasing. If your company has workers operating in a different country, the chances are you are faced with the challenge of processing an expatriate payroll.

Managing an expat payroll is an additional payroll accounting challenge; however, it is essential to keep international business moving effectively for both employers and workers alike.

In the modern era of business, even smaller companies may well require staff to be based abroad. As the way companies work continues to evolve, more and more businesses will inevitably require an expat payroll. Whether you are currently running an expat payroll or simply preparing for the possibility of an expansion in the future, Portfolio Payroll can help to provide you with the ideal candidate.

What are the benefits of an expat payroll?

An expat payroll ensures that the worker’s benefits are kept the same as they are back in their country of origin. As well as salary, this can cover such areas as tax and holiday entitlement. A further service can include salary splitting, in which a salary can be paid across two forms of currency. For example, a British worker who relocates to Germany could receive part of their pay in Pounds and the remaining amount in Euros across both British and German bank accounts.

With tax legislation varying significantly between different countries, an expat payroll is the ideal way to offer assurance to workers that they are paying the correct amount of tax. With the pressures that come with moving to a new country and adapting to a new culture, an expat payroll helps to retain a level of consistency, ensuring that there is one less problem for the relocating individual to deal with. As well as being a great help for the employee involved, an expat payroll also helps to relieve any worries on the employer that the relocation of an employee could lead to tax problems.

Complexities of expat payrolls focus on the assignee’s compensation arrangements from salary to benefits including housing allowance, re-location expenses and pension arrangements. Depending on the nature of the secondment, ex-pat payroll varies from home or host country payrolls, applying Hypo-tax or running shadow payrolls.

Expert payroll recruitment from Portfolio Payroll

Clearly, managing an expat payroll comes with a number of complications greater than managing a local UK based payroll. This role requires a skilled professional with knowledge of international payroll legislation and reporting requirements. As such, expat payroll is a highly specialist skill set, where experienced candidates are in high demand.

As well as specialist expat payroll consultant or expat manager, Portfolio Payroll can also help to fill additional roles, such as a payroll consultant. Call us on 020 7247 9455 or email recruitment@portfoliopayroll.com to discuss your requirements with one of our payroll recruitment consultants.