Viewing employees' multiannual tax cards
Last update
The Luxembourg Inland Revenue (Administration des contributions directes - ACD) now provides a service which allows employers and pension funds to view their employees' and pensioners' tax cards in electronic format via a certified business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu.
Since 1 January 2022, employers are under the obligation to access and consult the employees'/pensioners' tax cards for the purpose of determining the withholding tax and tax credits, on pain of penalty.
Who is concerned
The following are concerned by this service:
- employers and pension funds; and
- where relevant, their providers (including fiduciaries).
Prerequisites
Applying for a certification token
To activate the certified business eSpace to gain access to the tax cards, users must first apply to the ACD for a token (see section 'Online services and forms').
Applications for tokens may be submitted by:
- the employer; or
- a provider of their choosing (i.e. a specialist entity to whom the employer delegates the task of managing and calculating their employees' salaries).
When applying for the token, applicants must choose a security code. This code will be required to activate the service. If the application is being submitted by a provider on behalf of an employer, the provider must share the security code with the employer so the latter can use it when activating their token.
Only one 'employer token' can be activated whereas multiple 'provider tokens' can be activated within the same business eSpace.
Note: if the same employer applies for a second token within 72 hours, the application will be denied. Once the 72-hour period has elapsed, only one provider token will be sent to the employer.
When the employer applies for the token, they will receive both an employer token and a provider token. The employer can then entrust the provider token to a provider of their choosing if they have delegated the management of their employees' salaries. The employer remains responsible for the salaries, despite the delegation of this task.
When a provider applies for the token, the employer will be sent a letter containing the token, which they should then give to their provider.
Once the procedure has been completed, the token required to access the tax cards will be sent by post to the employer's address on file with the ACD (even if the application was filed by the provider). This token will enable its user to access the tax cards.
The employer token should not be given to the provider under any circumstances.
Activating the certified business eSpace
The employer or their provider must activate their access token within 2 months of applying for the token.
To do so, they should log in to their business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu, then go to the section 'My business data' and under 'Taxation', select 'Tax cards'.
They will then be required to enter their token, and the security code chosen when applying for that token.
For any given business eSpace, only one employer token can be used. On the other hand, several provider tokens can be used within the same business eSpace.
Deadlines
For the purpose of viewing multi-annual tax cards, the access Token must be activated within 2 months of applying for the token.
If either the employer or the provider fails to activate the business eSpace within that time, the tokens will be cancelled and a new token has to be applied for.
Once access to the tax cards has been activated, the token will remain valid for 3 years.
Costs
The application for the token and the activation of the certified business eSpace are free of charge.
How to proceed
Viewing existing tax cards
Once access to the tax cards has been activated, the employer will be able to view their employees' tax cards in their business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu:
- either by selecting 'My business data', then under 'Taxation' they must select 'Tax cards';
- or by going to the section 'My procedures' (then select 'New procedure'), and enter the name of the following procedure 'ACD: Search for tax cards' in the search field.
When searching for tax cards, a number of search filters can be applied.
The user will be able to download:
- tax cards individually, in either XML or PDF format;
- up to 100 tax cards based on a single search.
If a search returns more than 100 tax cards, the user will need to complete a so-called asynchronous procedure 'ACD – Search for tax cards'. Once this procedure has been completed, the user will receive a message within 24 hours, informing them that the search results are available. The message will also contain a download link, valid for 3 months. The link will automatically be deleted 24 hours after it is first used. The search results are provided in XML format only.
See our step-by-step tutorial on how to view the tax cards of employees and pensioned staff using MyGuichet.lu:
Note:
- only tax cards issued since 1 January 2021 will be available. Tax cards will remain available for as long as they are valid, and for one year after they expire (if an end date is stated);
- employers must access their business eSpace(s) at least once a month to view and, if necessary, download their employees' new tax cards (whether active or expired). A tax card is considered active as long as its validity has not expired. It is considered expired if its validity date has passed, or if it has been replaced by a more recent card;
- downloading a card is counted as one view.
New tax cards
If a new tax card is available, a message will be sent to the MyGuichet.lu business eSpace in question, for the attention of:
- the employer;
- the providers, for those tax cards whose tokens have been activated through their business eSpace.
The employer, and/or their provider, where applicable, will also receive an email notification informing them that a new message has been sent to their MyGuichet.lu eSpace.
Revoking a tax card access token
Certified access to tax cards can be revoked by the employer or their provider at any time, if deemed necessary. The employer may also, at any time, revoke one or more tokens that have been activated by their provider(s).
There are 2 ways to revoke a token:
- the employer or their service provider can request a revocation code from the ACD (see 'Online services and forms'). This code will be sent to the employer at their address on file with the ACD;
- employers can revoke the tokens of their service providers directly in their business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu using the 'Revoke' button on the eSpace's 'Certification' screen, under 'Tokens I have distributed' on MyGuichet.lu.
Once a token has been revoked, the employer can apply for a new one.
Review of accesses to tax cards
Access tokens have an expiry date. However, to simplify administration, this expiry date is automatically renewed.
Before the tokens expire, a letter is sent to employers informing them of the impending expiry date. They are also invited to review all active accesses to the tax cards.
However, employers with an active nominal token who do not wish to extend the validity of an active provider token are invited to revoke this token as follows, as soon as possible:
- Log in to MyGuichet.lu.
- Go to the home page of the business eSpace you are using to consult the tax cards.
- Click first on 'My eSpace profile' and then on 'Certifications'.
- Click on 'Manage'
- Locate the token you want to revoke under 'Tokens I have distributed', and click on 'Revoke'.
Employers with an inactive nominal token, with at least one active provider token, who do not wish to extend the validity of an active provider token, are invited to revoke all of these tokens using the ACD procedure: Demande de révocation de l’accès aux fiches de retenue d’impôt (request for revoking a tax-card access token - see under 'Online services and forms' below).
Providers also have the option of revoking themselves manually using the 'Revoke' button on the 'Certifications' screen in the business eSpace under 'Tokens I have received' on MyGuichet.lu.
If an employer does not take any of the actions above, then the validity of all their active tokens used to access tax cards, whether these are the tokens that they use themselves or those given to their service provider(s), will be automatically extended, including those that are obsolete.
For more details, please consult the user guide for electronic multiannual tax cards, which is available in the 'Related procedures and links' section.
Duration of validity
From 1 May 2021, new tax cards are issued on a multi-year basis. They remain valid as long as they are not updated following a change in one or more elements of the file (address, tax class, tax rate, employer, place of work, allowance, deduction, etc.).
Only tax cards issued for employees with fixed-term contracts will contain an end date. In that case, the tax card will expire at the end of the contract. They will be updated only if a change occurs before the end of the labour contract.
Sanctions
Since 1 January 2022, and only for those months for which they received notifications, employers must consult the available tax cards on MyGuichet.lu on pain of penalty payments.
The employer must follow all instructions on the tax cards in order to determine the withholding taxes and tax credits to apply.
Good to know
Note that:
- whenever an employee's contract ends, their employer will receive a tax card for the end of the contract;
- the tax card sent to the employer will no longer contain the employee's address;
- 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 whose agreed gross hourly wage exceeds EUR 25 must, however, request their tax card by submitting form 162 F (see 'Online services and forms') to the relevant RTS office. For these workers, the tax withheld will be determined according to the common tax scheme
Online services and forms
Online services
My data
Downloadable forms
Who to contact
Luxembourg Inland Revenue (ACD)
-
Luxembourg Inland Revenue (ACD)
- Address:
- 33, rue de Gasperich L-5826 Hesperange Luxembourg
Please consult the above website to find the competent department.
Related procedures and links
Procedures
Links
Further information
-
Guide d'utilisateur pour les fiches pluriannuelles électroniques
sur le site de l'Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
-
Fiches pluriannuelles électroniques
sur le site de l'Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
-
Fiches pluriannuelles électroniques – Volet "Employeur"
sur le site de l'Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
-
Newsletter du 29 mars 2021 – Volet "Employeur"
sur le site de l'Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
-
Newsletter du 29 mars 2021 – Volet "Salariés et pensionnés"
sur le site de l'Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
-
Newsletter du 18 novembre 2020
sur le site de l'Administration des contributions directes (ACD)
