Attracting and retaining highly qualified profiles remains a major challenge for many Luxembourg companies. In order to strengthen the Grand Duchy’s appeal to international talent, the legislator has introduced a specific tax regime in favour of certain impatriate employees. Since its introduction in 2014, this regime has been amended several times to better meet the needs of the Luxembourg labour market.

Today, the conditions governing the regime are set out in Article 115 (13b) of the Luxembourg Income Tax Act.

A significant reform entered into force on 1 January 2025. It simplifies the existing regime by replacing the various exemption mechanisms with a single, particularly attractive measure: a tax exemption of 50% of the employee’s annual gross remuneration, subject to certain conditions and within a statutory ceiling.

In this newsletter, we review the main conditions for applying the regime, the advantages it offers, and the points of attention employers should consider when wishing to grant it to their employees.

Who may qualify for the” impatriate” regime?

The “impatriate” regime applies to certain employees with specific expertise sought by the employer, who come to carry out their professional activity in Luxembourg in one of the following situations:

• an employee who normally works abroad and is seconded by a company established outside the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to perform salaried duties in a Luxembourg‑based company belonging to the same international group;

• an employee recruited directly abroad:
  • by a company established in Luxembourg; or
  • by a company carrying out an activity in Luxembourg but established in another State party to the European Economic Area Agreement, to perform salaried duties within the company.

The regime does not apply to employees hired under a temporary‑work assignment contract or within the framework of labour lending. mise à disposition par un entrepreneur de travail intérimaire ou dans le cadre du prêt de main-d’œuvre.

What are the conditions for applying the” impatriate” regime?

Conditions relating to the company

• Where the employer has existed for more than ten years as at 1 January of the relevant year, the number of impatriates benefiting from the regime may not exceed 30% of the company’s total full‑time equivalent workforce.

• The arrival of the impatriate must not be intended to replace one or more other employees who are not considered impatriates.

Conditions relating to the employee

General conditions

• The impatriate must have his or her tax or habitual residence in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; 

• During the five tax years preceding entry into service in Luxembourg, the impatriate must not have:
  • been tax resident in Luxembourg,
  • lived fewer than 150 km from the Luxembourg border,
  • been subject in Luxembourg to personal income tax on professional income.

Contractual conditions  

The employee must:

• perform the professional activity giving entitlement to the regime for at least 75% of his or her working time;
• receive a fixed annual gross remuneration of at least €75,000, excluding cash and in‑kind benefits.

Additional conditions  

Additional conditions apply depending on how the employee arrives in Luxembourg.

Where the employee is seconded to a Luxembourg company belonging to an international group:

• the employee must demonstrate at least five years’ seniority within the international group, or have acquired at least five years of specialised professional experience in the relevant sector;
• an employment relationship must be maintained between the sending company and the employee throughout the secondment period;
• the temporary assignment must include a right of return to the sending establishment at the end of the secondment;
• a secondment agreement between the sending and receiving companies must exist.

In the case of direct recruitment abroad, the employee must possess advanced specialisation in the relevant sector.

What tax advantage does the “impatriate” regime offer?

The employee may benefit from an 50% exemption on total annual gross remuneration (excluding, where applicable, benefits already exempt from tax), capped at €400,000 (i.e., a maximum exemption of €200,000).

In practice, each month, the employee will benefit on his payslip from a tax exemption of 50% of gross salary, subject to continued compliance with the regime’s conditions.

For how long can the” impatriate” regime be applied?

The regime must be applied from the employee’s entry into service in Luxembourg, provided all eligibility conditions are met. The employer must therefore assess in advance whether the employee qualifies, so that the regime can be applied from the first payslips.

Subject to continued compliance, the employee may benefit from the tax advantage for a maximum of eight tax years following the year of entry into service in Luxembourg.

 The regime will end early if any of the statutory conditions cease to be met during this period.

What administrative procedure must be followed?  

The application of the “impatriate” regime is not subject to prior authorisation or validation by the Luxembourg Inland Revenue. The employer determines whether the statutory conditions are met and applies the regime, where appropriate, through payroll withholding.

At the beginning of each year (no later than 31 January), the employer must submit in writing to the competent RTS office a nominal list of employees who benefited from the regime during the previous year. This enables the tax administration to verify continued compliance.

Luxembourg Inland Revenue nevertheless retains the right to review compliance and, where appropriate, challenge the application of the regime.

Conclusion

The Luxembourg “impatriate” regime is an attractive tool enabling employers to recruit and retain international talent by offering favourable tax treatment on part of their remuneration. The recent reform has simplified the system and broadened its scope, making it accessible to a greater number of workers who meet the statutory conditions.

Nevertheless, granting the regime remains subject to precise criteria relating both to the employer and the employee. A prior assessment of each situation is therefore essential to ensure that the regime is applied correctly.

In this context, employers have every interest in carefully documenting eligibility conditions and ensuring regular monitoring of beneficiaries throughout the duration of the regime.