Your employees' mouth masks: a benefit of any kind?
May 2021 – Have you ever considered giving your employees a mouth mask with your company logo? Believe it or not... the taxman will once again have a problem with this. Because this mouth mask could be taxable for your employee.
Benefits in kind - employer's own expenses
All allowances that an employer pays to his employees as a result of the employment relationship (i.e. as remuneration for work) are taxable as remuneration. This can be money, but also property that the employee can use. The company car is a classic example.
If the employer pays the employee an allowance for expenses that the employee has paid, but which should in fact be charged to the employer, this is not taxable. Take the example of an employee who uses his own telephone to call customers or colleagues. This allowance is a charge to the employer and its reimbursement is not taxable.
Where do you have to wear a mouth mask as a resident of the Kingdom of Belgium?
You must wear it in shops, in certain busy public places (many cities require you to wear a mouth mask in large parts of their territory), on public transport...
And also at work? In principle, workers should stay at home and telework, if possible. If it is not possible for them to carry out their work tasks from home, the employer must take steps to ensure the safety of workers at work.
This may seem surprising, but there is no direct general obligation on the employer to require its workers to wear a mouth mask. In the words of the Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Consultation, the employer must, "in compliance with the rules of social consultation in the company, take the necessary preventive measures to ensure that his workers can work safely" (https://emploi.belgique.be/fr/faqs/questions-et-reponses-coronavirus).
But the same FPS is of the opinion that if the risk analysis shows that wearing a mouth mask is necessary to avoid contamination, the employer is obliged to provide mouth masks. Most lawyers are of the opinion that a worker cannot refuse them.
Note that there are many sectors where the wearing of a mouth mask by staff is an obligation. We are thinking of staff in the hotel and catering industry or staff who are in contact with customers.
An obligation, therefore...
In cases where the employer is obliged to provide mouth masks, these are clearly the employer's own costs. We could conclude that:
if the employer provides his worker with mouth masks which cannot constitute a benefit for the worker; and
if the worker buys them himself and the employer reimburses him for them, this would be a reimbursement of the employer's own expenses which should not be taxable for the worker.
As you will have noticed from the use of the conditional tense, it is not that simple.
The tax authorities take a different view
The tax authorities have issued a circular on the issue of mouth masks in which they clarify their position on mouth masks.
When the employer offers mouth masks to his employee, this never gives rise to a benefit of any kind. Regardless of where the worker wears these mouth masks. In theory, there should be a benefit in kind if the worker wears the mouth masks in the commercial pedestrian area of Brussels (where they are compulsory) or even on the public transport he uses to go to work. In this case, the worker wears this mouth mask in his free time and it therefore theoretically constitutes a benefit in kind...
Conversely, imagine you have a business and you don't have enough mouth masks in stock for your workers who are in contact with customers... it would obviously be convenient for you to say to your workers "buy your mouth masks and I'll reimburse you".
In this case, the taxman will say you can reimburse them, but it will not be an employer's expense in this case, so you will have to treat it as remuneration.
Dotting the I's
However, this view is widely criticised. Many lawyers consider this view to be simply unfair, because an employer is normally obliged to provide his workers with the equipment they need to work. This can be done either in kind or by reimbursing workers for the equipment they have purchased.
If you want to play it safe, you should therefore make these mouth masks available yourself. The taxman adds that the quantity of masks you offer should be proportionate to the needs.
Furthermore, if the mouth masks are reusable and you ask your employees to wash them themselves, you can give them a tax-free lump sum of 0.20 euro per week. There is no small profit...
