When an expat movement is envisaged, 4 separate factors come in to play:
- COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) to compensate the employee for differences in cost of living between home country location and the target country location
- Tax equalization to ensure the employee is no worse off in terms of net take home pay,
- Immigration – To obtain valid visas and work permits for employees to legally live and work in the foreign country, and
- Assistance with locating a new home and thereafter mobility support to help the employee move their goods and chattels to their new home in the target country.
Nucleus can support corporate needs in all of these areas. Examples of recent cases are: (i) Indian engineers moving to Poland, (ii) India based head of APAC with family moving to Singapore to take up this new position, (ii) Hong Kong based individual moving to Australia to generate sales, (iv) US based individual moving to UK for a senior position.
If the expat employee benefits from stock option grants or has exercised but not had all options vested, there may be tax implications which Nucleus can clarify and quantify.
Finally, when a US expat moves abroad, because US taxes its nationals worldwide, dual country tax returns need to be filed. Also by running dual country payrolls, there is a way to ensure that the expat’s contribution to US social security can be maintained. Often , this is major concern to the expat.