Requesting or amending a tax card as a non-resident employee or pensioner
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A tax card is a necessary document for the employer or the pension fund in order for them to withhold taxes at source on salaries or pensions. It provides information about:
- the employee's or pensioner's tax class; or
- the fixed withholding tax rate; or
- a projected rate for married taxpayers who have chosen a joint taxation, a pure individual taxation or an individual taxation with reallocation.
Who is concerned
Individuals employed in Luxembourg or pensioners who receive a statutory retirement pension taxable in Luxembourg must, in principle, have a tax card because income from a salaried occupation and pensions paid by a Luxembourg pension fund are subject to tax withholding.
The tax deductions, made by the employer or the pension fund, are made according to:
- the tax scale; or
- the tax rate recorded on the tax card.
The withholding tax on salaries or pensions is determined by taking into account the tax reduction (deductions, allowances) and tax credits mentioned on the tax card.
How to proceed
Issuance of tax cards
For employees who start work in Luxembourg, the tax card is automatically issued by the Luxembourg Inland Revenue (ACD) following their affiliation with the Luxembourg Joint Social Security Centre (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale - CCSS) within, on average, 30 working days. Depending on the type of change in personal circumstances of the employee or the employer, a new tax card will be issued.
In the case of a first-time request for a tax card, the following, among others, must always use form 164:
- employees taxable in Luxembourg and affiliated as a non-salaried worker with the CCSS; or
- employees taxable in Luxembourg and not affiliated with the CCSS.
Since 1 January 2022, temporary agency workers no longer need a tax card. These salaries are subject to a 10 % flat tax on the gross amount, less the social contributions. Temporary agency workers with a gross hourly wage in excess of EUR 25 have to request their tax card by submitting the form 162 F to the competent RTS office. For these workers, the tax withheld will be determined according to the common tax scheme
Tax cards are sent directly to recipients by post. The tax card cannot be picked up directly from the issuing RTS office.
Taxpayers who have not received their tax card within 30 working days of their first day of employment with their new employer should contact the competent RTS office and inform their employer that the application is still pending.
The tax card for non-resident employees or pensioners is issued by the RTS tax office - Non-residents of the Luxembourg Inland Revenue (ACD). As a general rule, the competent RTS office is determined depending on the taxpayer's current commune of residence.
Submission of the withholding tax card by electronic means
The Luxembourg Inland Revenue (ACD) offers the activation of the eDelivery feature for the withholding tax card. Doing so allows taxpayers to receive this document in electronic format in their Private eSpace on MyGuichet.lu.
Please note: only documents sent from the moment of subscription to this service are available.
To benefit from this service, the taxpayer must first subscribe to the eDelivery function for official documents sent by the ACD. The subscription can be made in their private eSpace on MyGuichet.lu, under 'My data' in the 'Taxation' section, under 'Subscription to ACD documents'.
This step is essential in order to receive the documents in the private eSpace.
The taxpayer receives an email as soon as a new document is posted in their private eSpace. The document can be consulted in PDF format.
Changes in personal or professional circumstances
The tax card is updated automatically by the Luxembourg Inland Revenue (ACD) within an average of 30 working days if any of the following events occur:
- a change of employer;
- a change in the employer's company name or address;
- retirement, in accordance with the social security laws.
Tax cards are not affected by civil partnerships.
With regard to changes in the address or marital status (marriage, divorce, separation, death) of a non-resident taxpayer registered in the National Registry of Natural Persons (RNPP), the ACD is recommending to submit these changes using the online request for an update or rectification of data. This allows non-resident taxpayers whose personal circumstances have changed (moving, change of family situation, etc.) to inform the Luxembourg government administration departments with access to the RNPP of these changes. Alternatively, an update of an address or the marital status of a non-resident taxpayer may be performed upon request to the 'RTS tax office - Non-residents' using form 164 NR. The form 164 can always be used for an application for, correction or registration of a tax deduction or establishment of a duplicate of a withholding tax card for the current year.
A non-resident taxpayer getting married during the year will have the marital status changed and is taxable according to the scale of tax class 1. If both spouses earn taxable income in Luxembourg, each spouse is taxed separately only on their own income. This is done without taking into account their children or their age.
However, non-resident taxpayers may be treated as resident taxpayers for tax purposes upon request and subject to fulfilling the conditions of assimilation. Non-resident married taxpayers will have the same rights, deductions, allowances and credits as resident taxpayers and may claim:
- joint taxation of the domestic and worldwide common income of both spouses in order to determine the tax rate in accordance with tax class 2; or
- pure individual taxation of each spouse's own domestic and worldwide income in order to determine the tax rate in accordance with tax class 1; or
- individual taxation with reallocation of income between spouses in order to determine the tax rate in accordance with tax class 1.
Different estimated rates can be calculated in an online simulation.
Taxpayers who become parents during the year may, under certain conditions, change tax class: in the case of the birth or adoption of a child, the taxpayer may, on request, benefit from a tax reduction for that child and obtain tax class 1a, unless they benefit from class 2.
These changes in the tax class on the withholding tax card take effect from the date of marriage, of the processing of the request for joint or individual taxation, or where applicable, the birth (or adoption) of the child. The amount of withholding tax can be rectified following the submission of the new tax card to the employer or the pension fund.
Tax deducted at source may also be adjusted for the entire year, from 1 January to 31 December, either by:
- annual adjustment; or
- by submitting a tax return.
Special case: salaried employees who have accommodation in Luxembourg and abroad
This applies, for example, to employees living in Belgium who have accommodation (pied-à-terre) in Luxembourg during the week and return to their family in Belgium on weekends and holidays.
Regardless of their address, natural persons are theoretically considered non-resident taxpayers in Luxembourg as long as they possess a centre of vital interests abroad, outside Luxembourg.
Taxpayers receive a tax card as a resident employee (address in Luxembourg). If their vital interests are abroad, they have to apply for a tax card for non-residents to the RTS tax office - Non-residents.
Checking and submission of tax cards
Taxpayers must check the information printed on the card upon receipt.
As of 1 January 2022, employees are no longer required to submit their original tax card to their employer or to the body responsible for granting unemployment or re-employment benefit. An electronic copy of the tax card is made available to the employer by the ACD.
In principle, pensioners only receive a copy for information purposes, while an electronic copy is sent directly to their pension fund. The tax card is established based on data from the last card issued when the taxpayer was employed.
If any of the information on the card is incorrect, the changes must be requested from the Luxembourg Inland Revenue (RTS tax office - Non-residents) using the form 164 NR and attaching the required supporting documents.
The Luxembourg Inland Revenue reserves the right to request supporting documents as part of the process of verifying any information, statements, applications, declarations, claims or appeals submitted to its offices.
The different types of tax cards
Taxpayers who simultaneously receive several taxable salaries or pensions in Luxembourg receive a tax card for each respective employer and pension fund.
The withholding tax is levied on the most stable and highest salary in accordance with the information on the main tax card (the '1st tax card'), by applying the tax scale on salaries or pensions and the tax class indicated on the card. The main tax card is allocated to the most stable and highest salary or pension.
For married taxpayers who have opted for joint taxation, individual pure, or individual taxation with reallocation, the withholding is made in accordance with an estimated tax rate which they can find out about in an online simulation.
In all other cases, the withholding is made on the basis of an additional tax card (second, third, etc., tax card), with the application of a fixed withholding tax rate of:
- 33 % for tax class 1;
- 21 % for tax class 1a;
- 15 % for tax class 2.
However, this fixed rate can be reduced on demand. Taxpayers applying for a reduced rate must attach copies of their payslips for the last 3 months with the annotation, 'Prière de reconsidérer mon taux au plus bas' (Please reconsider taking into account the lowest tax rate). This change has no influence on the tax due at the end of the year, but only on the amount of tax withheld at source.
If the main tax card does not apply to the most stable and highest income, taxpayers may file a request with the relevant RTS office, using form 164 NR, to have the main card changed to an additional card.
Taxpayers must provide the necessary supporting documents (copies of the salary slips of both spouses for the last 3 months) attesting their income.
The taxpayers must specify that they wish to have the main card changed to an additional card by including the annotation, 'Prière de reconsidérer la fiche principale' (Please reconsider the main card). This change has no influence on the tax due at the end of the year, but only on the amount of tax deducted at source.
Registration of tax deductions and tax credits on the tax card
The employee or pensioner can request the registration of certain tax deductions (deductions and allowances) and certain tax credits on their tax card (using the form 164 NR) so that employers or the competent pension fund can take these into account for the calculation of the net income.
Non-resident taxpayers have the possibility to request the following to be recorded on their tax card:
- additional professional expenses (fees);
- single-parent tax credit (crédit d'impôt monoparental - CIM);
- extraordinary expenses for children who do not form part of the taxpayer's household;
- flat-rate travel expenses (FD);
- the deduction of the increased allowance for business expenses of disabled/impaired employees (a copy of the medical certificate specifying the degree of reduction of the employee's work capacity should be attached).
Other extraordinary expenses (illness, relatives in need, disability, household staff expenses, childcare expenses, etc.) may be taken into account but only if the non-resident opts to be treated as a resident for tax purposes and files a tax return.
The tax deductions listed on a tax card are valid only for the year for which they were requested. Applications must be renewed each year to ensure that the required conditions are met.
The advantage of tax-card listings is that they enable tax reductions (deductions and allowances) and tax credits to be taken into account when calculating the net salary without having to wait for the income tax assessment notice resulting from the tax return.
These listings only have an effect on the amount of tax deducted at source, the tax due at the end of the year will not be affected.
The amount of tax deducted at source during a fiscal year may occasionally be too high or too low. The remainder may be reimbursed or collected retroactively, in the course of the year following the tax year concerned:
- either through taxation by assessment (form 100 - tax return); or
- by way of annual adjustment (form 163).
Supporting documents to be submitted
The supporting documents to be attached to the application for registration of a tax deduction are listed on the last page of form 164 (example: a copy of the marriage certificate, divorce decree, certificate of residence, etc.).
The Luxembourg Inland Revenue reserves the right to request additional supporting documents as part of the process of verifying any information, statements, applications, declarations, claims or appeals submitted to its offices.
Requesting a duplicate tax card
The non-resident employee or pensioner who has lost their card must request a duplicate from the relevant RTS office, preferably using form 164.
Please note: the withholding tax card is not to be confused with:
- the salary certificate;
- the pension certificate;
- the income certificate.
No tax card
If there is no tax card, the tax deducted at source on the salary or pension is determined on the basis of tax class 1, and the tax cannot be lower than 33 %.
This tax deduction may be corrected once the tax card has been submitted to the employer, or it may be adjusted through:
- the submission of the tax return; or
- annual adjustment.
Online services and forms
Who to contact
-
Luxembourg Inland Revenue (ACD)
- Address:
- 33, rue de Gasperich L-5826 Hesperange Luxembourg
Please click on the link above to find the competent department.
Related procedures and links
Procedures
Links
Further information
-
Bureau d'imposition RTS Non-résidents
sur le site de l’Administration des contributions directes
-
Calcul en ligne du barème des personnes physiques
sur le site de l'Administration des contributions directes
-
Certificats
sur le site de l’Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
-
Charges extraordinaires (CE)
sur le site de l’Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
-
FAQ et spécimen d'une fiche de retenue d'impôt
sur le site de l’Administration des contributions directes
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Frais de déplacement forfaitaires, unités d'éloignement
sur le site de l'Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
-
Salarié et pensionné
sur le site de l’Administration des contributions directes
-
Demande en ligne d’un certificat d'impôt
sur le site de la Caisse nationale d’assurance pension (CNAP)
-
Commander un certificat de revenus
sur le site du Centre commun de la sécurité sociale (CCSS)
Legal references
concernant l'impôt sur le revenu
