An employment law question on tax payment when working abroad via BNR News Radio

Yesterday a legal question was posed to our employment law lawyer Ruud Olde on BNR Nieuwsradio. The program focuses on developments in law and jurisprudence.

Payment through a Payroll company

In this case, the question comes from a listener who lives in the Netherlands (The Hague) and works as a temp in Belgium for a large international company. He was assigned via a Dutch temporary employment agency, but because this temporary employment agency does not have a Belgian branch, he is "housed" with a payroll company in Belgium. He has a contract with this payroll company and the payroll company also pays him - in Belgium, that is. The duration of the contract is 4 months. The listener would like to know:

Should taxes be paid in the Netherlands or in Belgium?

The listener himself expects that he should simply be able to work in Belgium through the Dutch temp agency, while still getting paid in the Netherlands (183-day rule). This would make his life much easier with regard to income tax.

Is the listener right? You can listen to the radio clip with our specialist Ruud's answer here.