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The fiscal threshold for cross-border telework remains set at 34 days per year for French, Belgian and German residents, despite several rounds of negotiations.
Luxembourg has said it is open to raising this threshold to 25%, or roughly 58 days per year, but only with France and on condition of increased co-development.
Cross-border telework has also become a central attractiveness issue for Luxembourg companies, in a market where nearly half the workforce commutes from abroad.
Cross-border telework in Luxembourg is still governed by separate fiscal and social thresholds, which are often poorly understood by both employees and employers. French, Belgian and German cross-border workers can telework up to 34 days a year from home without those days becoming taxable in their country of residence, a threshold that has remained unchanged despite several rounds of talks between governments.
On the social security side, the European framework agreement that came into force in July 2023 allows telework of up to 49.9% of working time, or roughly two and a half days a week, without losing affiliation to Luxembourg's social security system. These two ceilings follow different logics, which complicates administrative monitoring for both companies and cross-border employees.
Negotiations between France and Luxembourg over a possible increase to the cross-border telework threshold have so far failed to produce any concrete agreement. In a parliamentary response to MP Sven Clement, Luxembourg's finance minister, Gilles Roth, stated that the government has said it is open to raising the threshold to 25%, or around 58 days per year, but only in exchange for greater co-development, as reported by L'essentiel. The deadlock centres mainly on the financial aspect, with France demanding compensation for lost tax revenue that Luxembourg refuses to grant in the form of an automatic rebate.
On the Belgian and German side, no similar discussions have been launched so far, according to the minister's own comments. The cross-border telework threshold therefore remains set at 34 days a year for these two neighbouring countries, a figure that recommendations from the Benelux Parliamentary Assembly, adopted in March 2025, would like to see raised to 40%, as detailed by Les Frontaliers. This strictly bilateral, country-by-country approach is slowing down any harmonisation at the level of the Greater Region.
Beyond fiscal thresholds, cross-border telework has also become a structural issue for the attractiveness of Luxembourg's labour market. In the tenth edition of the Cahiers de la Grande Région, published by the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, Nicolas Simons, chief economist at the Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises, notes that 47% of Luxembourg's workforce are cross-border workers, or around 230,000 people. He points out that while the country remains able to attract new talent, it struggles more to retain them over the medium and long term, a reality that makes telework a key factor in negotiations with future employees, as reported by Les Frontaliers.
The current fiscal framework also creates situations of inequality within companies themselves, with some forced to limit telework only for their cross-border staff, while employees residing in Luxembourg face no comparable constraint. Faced with this situation, the UEL recommends setting up a safety zone for cross-border telework, aligned with the 25% threshold already recognised under European social security legislation, a measure that could apply at the level of the Greater Region or even the Benelux.
The topic is also being closely followed on the diplomatic front. France's ambassador to Luxembourg, Christophe Bouchard, stated in an interview with RTL Infos that cross-border telework benefits both countries, allowing for better organisation of working time for cross-border employees as well as reduced road traffic on the Luxembourg side, a statement published on the website of the French embassy in Luxembourg. This alignment of views between economic and diplomatic actors has not, however, been enough to unblock negotiations, which remain pending a new meeting of the Franco-Luxembourg Intergovernmental Commission in the second half of 2026.
For Luxembourg HR departments, managing cross-border telework requires close monitoring of remote working days, in order to avoid any unintentional breach of fiscal and social thresholds. This administrative vigilance is becoming increasingly strategic as telework establishes itself as a decisive factor in cross-border workers' career choices, in a labour market where the skills shortage remains a major challenge for companies in the Grand Duchy.
The cross-border telework file illustrates the ongoing tension between the fiscal interests of neighbouring countries and the attractiveness needs of Luxembourg companies. While no concrete progress has been made with France, Belgium or Germany, pressure from employer organisations and institutional recommendations suggests the current framework could evolve in the coming months. Luxembourg companies therefore have every interest in anticipating these changes by structuring their cross-border telework policies now, rather than facing a reform whose timeline remains, for now, uncertain.
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