Taxation of Cross-Border Pensions

presented by the University of Luxembourg in collaboration with Tilburg University and the ATOZ Chair for European and International Taxation

Over the last several decades, average life expectancy has increased while birth rates have declined, inversing the pyramidal structure that formed the basis for our current social security systems. Now, people will have to work for more years than originally anticipated and rely more heavily on individual savings to fund their retirement.

This conference will focus on the taxation of statutory social security schemes, occupational pension schemes, and individual annuities, as well as the tax treatment of pension funds from both a tax treaty and an EU perspective. It will also address problems faced by cross-border workers who want to deduct payments made to retirement savings institutions in their home countries while also considering the implications for governments of the loss of tax revenue they face when they allow deductions for social security contributions made by residents but can no longer tax the social security benefits they are obligated to pay to former residents. Many tax treaties are now being renegotiated to allow the worker’s former residence state to tax such benefits after emigration, and such changes, and the implications thereof, will also be discussed.

Conference participants will have the opportunity to ask questions after each presentation.