Taxation provisions, unlike social security, have not been harmonised at the level of the European Union, but remain completely subject to the decisions of the Member States. There are taxation agreements between individual Member States, which determine the country in which the individual will pay tax. The tax office in your country is the first place to seek information on your particular case. To find the office, use the telephone directory, or see the details under the individual country sections (see 'National Information on the left side), or go to http://europa.eu.int/scadplus

Please consult also our latest study on the 'Tax and legal situation of P & MS'. You can either download it or order it by e-mail.

Whilst there is no harmonisation of tax matters, there are some underlying principles which have to be respected by the public authorities. Whilst each Member State has the competence to organise its tax matters as it sees best, it has an obligation to do so in such a way as to avoid harm to or discrimination against other Member States and their nationals.

There are two principles governing tax collection in practice:

• The Country of Residence principle
• The Deduction at Source principle

The first of these means that tax is payable in the country of residence. The second means that tax is levied in the state where income is earned or wealth possessed. These two together mean that expatriate workers will normally pay tax in the country of residence, but care should be taken to check the tax position of posted workers, as their income may be earned in the country of origin rather than that of residence.

As personal taxation rates vary to a marked extent between countries, it is important to ensure that this is taken into account when wage rates are fixed. Information on rates of personal and other taxation can be found in the country sections of this website.