The Latest News on Brexit, Social Security Contributions and E-Verify Records
Brexit; France
Brexit Among Reasons For Rising Real Estate Prices In France
The price of real estate in the French capital has risen 248% in the last two decades
Paris is becoming unaffordable as prices are pushed up partly by Brexit, as wealthy people and companies relocate from London.
Paris has become one of the most expensive housing markets in Europe. One reason for the rising costs is Brexit, the U.K.’s long effort to leave the European Union.
Aside from EU organizations, international banks and businesses have also left London and relocated to continental cities like Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt in order to stay inside the EU.
According to newspaper Le Parisien, the price of real estate in the French capital has risen 248% in the last two decades. Brexit is not the only reason people are flocking to Paris. There are also low interest rates and the pro-business policies of President Emmanuel Macron.
Eastern Europe
Social Security Contributions Vary in Eastern Europe
Employers and employees make social security contributions at different rates across Europe, presenting coordination challenges for multinationals. This article highlights contribution rates in eastern Europe.
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, the employer’s contribution is from 14.12 percent to 14.82 percent of the employee’s salary, while the employee’s contribution is 10.58 percent. For specific types of work, such as in dangerous environments, the contributions are higher.
The basis for calculating social security is mainly the employee’s salary, however, the basis cannot be lower than the social insurance thresholds, which are individually set for different industries and types of jobs each year and cannot be higher than the “maximum social security income,” determined each year. For 2019, it is 3,000 levs—approximately $1,693.
Czech Republic
Czech employees contribute 6.5 percent of their gross taxable income to social security plans. Employers contribute an amount equivalent to nearly 25 percent of the gross taxable income of all employees. This comprises 2.1 percent for sickness insurance, 21.5 percent for pension insurance and 1.2 percent for the state unemployment plan. The maximum annual assessment base for social security contributions for both the employee and employer is 1,569,552 korunas—approximately $67,921—in 2019.
Hungary
Hungarian social security covers illness, maternity, unemployment, disability and pension. Both the employer and employee must pay contributions.
The employee must pay: 10 percent for pension insurance; 7 percent for health care insurance; 1.5 percent labor market contribution.
The employer must pay: 19.5 percent social contribution tax; 1.5 percent vocational training contribution.
Latvia
Currently, the total social tax payable for each employee in Latvia is 35.09 percent of his or her salary—11 percent is the employee’s part and 24.09 percent is the employer’s part.
Social security covers the risk of loss of income to a person or his or her dependents due to age, unemployment, accident at work or occupational illness, disability, sickness, maternity, child care, or expenses connected with the death of the employee or his or her dependents.
As of 2018, social security contributions also cover health insurance. The maximum amount of social security contributions is 55,000 euros—approximately $60,755—per year.
Poland
Social security contributions in Poland consist of pension, disability, accident and sickness insurance. The amounts of the contributions, based on the employee’s gross pay, are as follows:
- 19.52 percent for pension insurance, paid by the employer and employee in equal parts—that is, 9.76 percent each.
- 8 percent for disability insurance—6.5 percent paid by the employer and 1.5 percent by the employee.
- 2.45 percent for sickness insurance paid by the employee.
- 1.67 percent—this percentage may vary depending on headcount and business activity—for occupational accident insurance, paid by the employer.
- 0.10 percent paid by the employer for the Fund of Guaranteed Employee Benefits.
- 2.3 percent paid by the employer for the Labor Fund.
- 0.15 percent for Solidarity Support Fund for the Disabled paid by the employer.
USA
Save Your E-Verify Records Before They Are Deleted
USCIS has created a Historic Records Report that users can download and save for archival purposes
As of Jan. 2, 2020, employers won’t have access to E-Verify records that were created on or before Dec. 31, 2009.
As of 2014, each year the E-Verify electronic employment eligibility verification system deletes data that is more than 10 years old, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
USCIS has created a Historic Records Report that users can download and save for archival purposes. The report contains information about each E-Verify case that will be purged. Employers have until Dec. 31, 2019, to download case information from the Historic Records Report if they want to retain information about these E-Verify cases.
The data purge is being conducted to comply with the National Archives and Records Administration’s retention and disposal schedule to minimize security and privacy risks associated with retaining personally identifiable information.
Employers should take measures to archive their data, said Kevin Lashus, an attorney with FisherBroyles in Austin, Texas.
Want to know more, Read here about our Brexit Services
