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.

Employers had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with this service between 1 May 2021 and 31 December 2021. Since 1 January 2022, it has become mandatory to access and consult the employees'/pensioners' tax cards for the purpose of determining the withholding tax and tax credits.

Who is concerned

The following are concerned by this service:

• employers and pension funds; and
• where relevant, their providers (including fiduciaries).

Preliminary steps

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 'Forms / Online services').

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).

Only one 'employer token' can be activated whereas multiple 'provider tokens' can be activated within the same business eSpace.

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.

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.

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).

To revoke a token, the user must request a revocation code from the ACD (see under 'Forms / Online services'). The revocation code will be sent to the employer at their address on file with the ACD.

To revoke an employer token and all associated provider tokens, the revocation code must be entered in the business eSpace.

Once a token has been revoked, the employer can apply for a new one.

Extending the validity of a tax-card access token

The employer may apply for an extension of the validity of their token if it is about to expire.

If the employer has delegated the management of their employees' salaries to a provider, the latter may apply for an extension of the validity of their token and of the employer token.

Transition phase and mandatory phase

Online access to tax cards began with a transition phase from 1 May 2021 to 31 December 2021.

During this transition phase, employers were able to familiarise themselves with the process of viewing tax cards in electronic format. Meanwhile, employees continued to receive their tax cards by post and still had to submit them to their employer.

The mandatory phase began on 1 January 2022: as of that date, employers must consult their MyGuichet.lu business eSpace every month to check whether new tax cards are available.

At the same time, employees and pensioners are no longer be required to submit their tax cards to their employer or pension fund.

Duration of validity

All new tax cards issued as of 1 May 2021 (beginning of the transition phase) remain valid after 31 December. They will only be updated if there is a change to one or more elements of the tax card (address, tax class, tax rate, employer, place of work, tax allowances, deductions, 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 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

Forms / Online services

Who to contact