Ask the Expat Desk: Mobile phone reimbursements

On July 10, 2013 by Dutch Umbrella Company

I am a 45 year old contractor and have been working in Rotterdam for a few months.

My employer wants to arrange a mobile phone for me and I was wondering whether it would just be simpler to use my personal phone and have the works costs reimbursed. Is this possible?

WePayPeople Expat Desk replies

It is possible for your employer to reimburse you in full for the business portion of your mobile phone use. These reimbursements will also not form part of your taxable income as they are intermediary business costs.

10% rule – If a minimum of 10% of the use of your personal mobile phone is for business purposes, then your employer has the option to reimburse you for 100% of your mobile phone bill. The added benefit of this tax rule is that it removes the administrative burden from your employer. The drawback for your employer is that the costs reimbursed to you are above the actual costs incurred.

Your employer may however decide to provide you with a work phone paid directly by your employer, which would remove the need for you to submit monthly copies of your personal phone invoice for reimbursement. This would be the simplest way for you to have a phone for work purposes.

In order to benefit from this tax office rule, the mobile phone in use must be smaller than 7 inches diagonally. 

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