Cross-Border Workers and New Ways of Working : Tax Challenges and Solutions
(2026)- Abstract
- This thesis examines the taxation of employment income derived from cross-border work in light of new ways of working. Its central focus is Article 15 of the OECD Model Tax Convention, which allocates taxing rights over income from employment primarily on the basis of where the work is physically performed. The thesis asks whether this framework remains suitable in a labour market increasingly characterized by remote work, hybrid work and organizational structures in which work, financing and legal responsibility may be divided between several jurisdictions.
The thesis is written as a compilation thesis and consists of four articles together with an introductory chapter. The articles analyze different forms of cross-border work... (More) - This thesis examines the taxation of employment income derived from cross-border work in light of new ways of working. Its central focus is Article 15 of the OECD Model Tax Convention, which allocates taxing rights over income from employment primarily on the basis of where the work is physically performed. The thesis asks whether this framework remains suitable in a labour market increasingly characterized by remote work, hybrid work and organizational structures in which work, financing and legal responsibility may be divided between several jurisdictions.
The thesis is written as a compilation thesis and consists of four articles together with an introductory chapter. The articles analyze different forms of cross-border work and different legal problems arising from them. These include the taxation of international consortium workers within European Research Infrastructure Consortia, the allocation of taxing rights for cross-border remote workers in light of the benefit principle, the Öresund Agreement as a possible model for hybrid work in the Nordic region, and the interaction between taxation and social security contributions in cases of cross-border telework.
The study shows that existing legal frameworks were not designed for a labour market in which mobility does not necessarily require physical movement. Article 15 continues to rely on physical presence as the central connecting factor, even though remote and hybrid work may separate the place where work is performed from the state in which the employer is located and where the employment relationship is organised. At the same time, EU social security coordination rules and bilateral arrangements, such as the Öresund Agreement, illustrate both the possibilities and difficulties of adapting legal frameworks to new working patterns.
The thesis concludes that the current rules give rise to structural tensions in the taxation and social security treatment of cross-border employment income. While no single reform can resolve all of these issues, more coherent solutions are needed to better reflect how cross-border work is organized, where employment income is generated, and how public systems are financed. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/483ba207-ef45-47f7-9a6b-c2881d50b528
- author
- Schwartz, Christian LU
- supervisor
-
- Axel Hilling LU
- Sigrid Hemels LU
- opponent
-
- Professor Cejie, Katia, Uppsala University
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-08-31
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- tax law, international taxation, cross-border work, social security contributions, OECD, remote work, telework, European Research Infrastructure Consortium
- pages
- 238 pages
- publisher
- Department of Business Law, Lund University School of Economics and Management
- defense location
- EC3:210
- defense date
- 2026-10-09 10:15:00
- ISBN
- 978-91-6858-010-4
- 978-91-6858-009-8
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 483ba207-ef45-47f7-9a6b-c2881d50b528
- date added to LUP
- 2026-09-10 10:53:08
- date last changed
- 2026-09-14 10:08:15
@phdthesis{483ba207-ef45-47f7-9a6b-c2881d50b528,
abstract = {{This thesis examines the taxation of employment income derived from cross-border work in light of new ways of working. Its central focus is Article 15 of the OECD Model Tax Convention, which allocates taxing rights over income from employment primarily on the basis of where the work is physically performed. The thesis asks whether this framework remains suitable in a labour market increasingly characterized by remote work, hybrid work and organizational structures in which work, financing and legal responsibility may be divided between several jurisdictions.<br/><br/>The thesis is written as a compilation thesis and consists of four articles together with an introductory chapter. The articles analyze different forms of cross-border work and different legal problems arising from them. These include the taxation of international consortium workers within European Research Infrastructure Consortia, the allocation of taxing rights for cross-border remote workers in light of the benefit principle, the Öresund Agreement as a possible model for hybrid work in the Nordic region, and the interaction between taxation and social security contributions in cases of cross-border telework.<br/><br/>The study shows that existing legal frameworks were not designed for a labour market in which mobility does not necessarily require physical movement. Article 15 continues to rely on physical presence as the central connecting factor, even though remote and hybrid work may separate the place where work is performed from the state in which the employer is located and where the employment relationship is organised. At the same time, EU social security coordination rules and bilateral arrangements, such as the Öresund Agreement, illustrate both the possibilities and difficulties of adapting legal frameworks to new working patterns.<br/><br/>The thesis concludes that the current rules give rise to structural tensions in the taxation and social security treatment of cross-border employment income. While no single reform can resolve all of these issues, more coherent solutions are needed to better reflect how cross-border work is organized, where employment income is generated, and how public systems are financed.}},
author = {{Schwartz, Christian}},
isbn = {{978-91-6858-010-4}},
keywords = {{tax law; international taxation; cross-border work; social security contributions; OECD; remote work; telework; European Research Infrastructure Consortium}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{08}},
publisher = {{Department of Business Law, Lund University School of Economics and Management}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Cross-Border Workers and New Ways of Working : Tax Challenges and Solutions}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/260478852/Christian_Schwartz_-_WEBB.pdf}},
year = {{2026}},
}