Travel, dinners with a client, food, accommodation to attend a trade show ... Certain trades impose multiple fees. As recalled by Urssaf, the legislation considers that "the expenses incurred by the employee for the needs of his professional activity are professional expenses that the employer is required to reimburse him".
But what about employees who carry out their telework tasks, a system particularly used since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic?
A general principle, if not better
Before 2017, article L1222-10 of the Labor Code provided that the employer had to bear all the costs arising directly from the exercise of telework (hardware, software, subscriptions, communications, etc.). However, the Macron order of September 22, 2017, the same order that democratized this form of remote work, removed this explicit obligation from the Code. Otherwise, you must therefore rely on the general principle of covering professional expenses to ask your employer to settle your invoices.
In fact, as Urssaf confirms, "expenses incurred in the context of teleworking are considered professional expenses and can be excluded from the assessment base". In addition to collective agreements which can detail this reimbursement through the menu, the Union for the collection of Social Security contributions and family allowances has also set up an evaluation grid to guide businesses.
A package to the rescue
Expenses related to your home, such as rent, property tax, electricity and heating or air conditioning, are evaluated as a share of all the fixed costs of the home and in proportion to the part you use as an office. Unless you lend yourself enough to work in good conditions at home, your employer must also pay for the purchase of equipment necessary for your telework (ergonomic desk and chair, desk lamp, computer, printer, etc.). Reimbursement will be excluded from social contributions up to a limit of 50% of the actual expenditure. Finally, the costs of computer equipment, connection and various supplies (reams of paper, ink cartridges, internet and telephone subscription) are reimbursed on receipts.
Complex calculation methods, however, tended to put employers off. To facilitate their task, Urssaf has therefore drawn up a fixed scale in place since the end of 2019. Regular teleworking can therefore give rise to a global allowance of 10 euros per month, exempt from contributions, for an employee working a day's work at home per week, against 20 euros for two days, 30 for three days ... In this case, it is only if the amount paid by the employer exceeds these limits that the company will need your supporting documents to use the grid above in order to benefit from the exemption from social charges.
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Tax issues
If Urssaf is finicky on the calculation of professional expenses, it is because these are excluded from the basis for calculating Social Security contributions but also from the CSG-CRDS base. There is therefore a great temptation to inflate the bill to escape these contributions.
These expenses have another interest since they can be deducted from the annual income tax. By default, the French Treasury applies an automatic 10% deduction for your business expenses. But if your invoices are particularly salty, it is in your interest to fill in the "real costs" box. Please note: if a part has been reimbursed by your employer, you must reintegrate these amounts into your wages before deducting all of your costs.
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