Luxembourg has concluded the legislative procedure on its side of the border already, voting in favour of the bill in May. The bill ratifies the agreement reached with Belgium in August 2021 to increase the number of teleworking days from 24 to 34 without becoming taxable in the country of residence. Since then, almost 50,000 Belgian cross-border workers have been waiting for Belgium to do the same, with a certain amount of excitement, given that to vote on the bill legalising the change to 24 days.
There will be no need to wonder whether the number of days authorised is 24 or 34, since, before the end of 2022, Belgian law will state that this quota is fixed at 34.
The uncertainty remains. The presentation of this bill to the Belgian Chamber has been announced for this autumn, but Belgian finance minister Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V) doesn’t want to be overly confident. "We will do our utmost to ensure that this new clause can enter into force as soon as possible," he explained to MP Josy Arens (Les Engagés) in mid-August. He also said that "the tax administration does not in principle have the right to apply a treaty that has not yet entered into force...".
Received by Bettel and Asselborn
But on Thursday 15 September slightly more reassuring news came from Lahbib,
The latter was in Luxembourg for a working visit during which she held talks with Prime Minister (DP) and his counterpart (LSAP). The discussions focused on bilateral relations as well as main current European and international issues. This allowed Lahbib to confirm that the bill concerning the 34 days of telework would be voted on in Brussels before the end of 2022.
"There will be no question of whether the number of days allowed is 24 or 34, because before the end of 2022, Belgian law will say that this quota is set at 34," she told Delano’s sister publication Paperjam. "And this will be retroactive to 1 July 2022 (the date when the possibility of unlimited telework ended). I can't give you a date yet for when it will go through the chamber, but the parliamentary process is underway."
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.