There are a lot of great quotes about mistakes. Like:
- “You make mistakes. Mistakes don’t make you.” — Maxwell Maltz
- “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” — Albert Einstein
- “When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it.” — Paul Bear Bryant
Each of the above has a certain perspective on the value of a "mistake." I love the spirit in each of these.
But make no mistake about it...it's OK to avoid mistakes, too. While inevitable over the long haul probably, why not shoot for "not making that next mistake," especially when our efforts impact the lives of others?
So while we roll along in our work managing global mobility, we try really hard to tap into all of our knowledge, talent and experience to effectively support the process and positively impact the lives of our expatriates and international transfers. Developing and then leveraging our resources is one of the keys to helping us avoid mistakes.
In global mobility, we have our partners, our cohorts, our teams, our industry and our community to tap into as we navigate the requirements and address the needs. Most of us recognize the village that is needed to fully support a family going on assignment from the Bay Area to Brussels or from Boston to Beijing. Each member of that village contributes to what we hope will create a "mistake-free" experience for the family.
One of those critical areas to address as talent crosses borders is international tax. Most global mobility programs have a plethora of home and host country combinations, and that's a lot to track. That's why every global mobility program relies on a quality partnership with their expatriate tax partner.
In this article from GTN, learn more about the common mobility tax mistakes made by organizations that are using mobile employees to fulfill international staffing needs. Specifically, they explore:
- How to minimize the tax burden through solid planning
- Why tracking is essential to compliance
- Why counseling and educating the expatriate is so critical
Once we move past the COVID-19 pandemic, those tax rules and requirements will be there waiting, so be sure your mobility program is ready to roll and avoid the "oops" in talent mobility!