Interfisc is a specialist in international HR and payroll administration, which was founded as, and today continues to be, a family firm.
Interfisc was founded in 1972 by the late Robert A.E. Mahieu (3 October 1937 – 21 March 2013), while he was director of the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands. Up to that time, many Belgian exporters had had to rely upon the services of Dutch commercial agents and wholesalers, who however increasingly were being replaced by representatives in salaried employment. In those days, records of such employment were not always kept automatically, as, in contrast to Belgium, there are no ‘social secretariats’ in the Netherlands. The Dutch tax authorities were also not sure how to treat this group. It was for this reason that Mahieu established Bureau Interfisc: the first Belgian social secretariat in the Netherlands.
However, representatives also needed a pension, as well as arrangements for disability, a lease car, fuel card and the like: items which businesses without an office in the Netherlands did not automatically have (which by the way, would still be the case, if it weren’t for the fact that Interfisc has ready-made solutions for a range of issues). Over time, the company’s range of services was substantially expanded, in order to make things as easy as possible for foreign employers. Entirely on its own from 1996 onwards, Interfisc succeeded in a relatively short period to grow into an international company with some 40 employees.
Following the death of Robert Mahieu on 21 March 2013, the company’s operations were continued by his widow, W***y Mahieu-Scholte (9 March 1946 – 20 July 2016). It was due to her efforts that Interfisc could continue as a family company following the death of its founder. She also ensured that the principles on which Interfisc was originally founded were not lost and indeed became all the more anchored in today’s Interfisc, the company of which we all are so proud.
Today, Interfisc continues to be in the hands of the Mahieu family, who have entrusted the management of the company to André Hamulyák, who has been a staff member since 1994. Interfisc has it’ s head office in the Netherlands and we are also active in Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom and are constantly looking for new opportunities for further expansion. At our different offices, we process the payrolls of employees working in the Netherlands and neighbouring countries, as well as in France. Interfisc has also grown into an expert in the field of cross-border payroll administration: we not only ensure correct calculation and payout of withholdings in these countries, but their proper integration into salary specifications, as well.
Identifying and solving bottlenecks in cross-border employment
This background ensured that, from the start, Interfisc was always in its element when it came to identifying bottlenecks in the field of cross-border employment. And devising practical solutions to such bottlenecks has truly become second nature to us. The following two examples will serve to illustrate this.
Back in 1996, Interfisc succeeded in having the practice of double premium-payment abandoned in the area of Dutch social-sectoral schemes. Double premium-payment had suddenly been declared applicable to the Belgian employees of our Belgian clients in the Netherlands, which employees worked on large construction sites in the Netherlands. As a result, sudden large increases in cost calculations for projects in the Netherlands could be prevented.
Following years of discussion, Interfisc also succeeded in convincing the German Social Security Administration (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) to adopt its standpoint with regard to insolvency payments. As a result, it became possible for companies without a registered office in Germany to be exempted from paying a so-called insolvency payment levy (Insolvenzgeldumlage), without a corresponding loss of entitlement to insolvency payments (Insolvenzgeld) on the part of German personnel or personnel working conditionally in Germany. In short: a substantial savings in wage and administrative costs for companies operating in Germany.
Making employment abroad possible
Interfisc shares its knowledge and expertise through, amongst other things, its participation in roundtable discussions of the EURES Network in both the Dutch-Belgian and Dutch-German contexts. In addition, as a payroll-service provider for foreign employers with personnel in the Netherlands, we are the first party the foreign tax office consults when conducting so-called horizontal monitoring. This enables us rapidly to bring possible bottlenecks in payroll administration to their attention and discuss these with them.
In this way, we attend to the interests of employers with employees in the context of cross-border employment. Our goal: to facilitate cross-border employment by providing reliable information to both parties, and assisting them with the choices they make in the areas of cross-border social security, taxation, employment law, health, well-being, compensation and benefits. As a result, the right premiums and taxes are paid in the right country, leading to a win-win situation for both employee and employer and the relevant national governments.
