Features
The current release includes several new features which significantly enhance the functionality of the Equus Platform.
China
Income Tax
Added a new tax position, Stock Option Type, to designate how compensation mapped to Stock Option Income should be treated. The tax position has the following options, applying the corresponding treatments to the tax line item input:
Listed - Taxed at preferential rates (like bonuses).
Unlisted Domestic - Taxed at a flat 20% rate.
Other - Included in gross income, taxed at regular rates. This option is the default.
Colombia
Social Security & Payroll Tax
Added the Receives Integrated Salary? tax position that treats the base salary as the sum of ordinary salary and benefits that are exempted from social security contributions. Selecting Yes excludes 30% of the Base Salary tax input from social security and payroll tax for inbound employees.
Romania
Enhanced Automatic Social Security
Added the agreement between Canada - Romania. Select Yes from the Enhance Automatic Social Tax? tax position in the home tax estimator to utilize the feature.
Updates
Updates include calculation and rate changes resulting from inflation adjustments, legislative changes, and review of supported authorities. Effective dates indicate when the changes enter into force. Amounts are annual unless stated otherwise.
Angola
Income Tax
Updated the tax table from a twelve-tiered to an eleven-tiered table with a 25% top rate on income exceeding AOA 10 million, effective January 1, 2026.
Australia
Social Security
Corrected the employer Superannuation Guarantee wage base by excluding tax gross-up line items. The previous calculation resulted in a potential overstatement of employer tax costs.
Austria
Income Tax
Changed Supplemental Retirement Benefits Host Country from nontaxable to taxable when assignment is 12 months or less.
Bangladesh
Income Tax
Changed Employer Paid Medical and Dental and Employee Medical Emergencies Host Country from taxable to nontaxable.
Corrected the Auto Lease Host Country taxable limit to calculate based on months in the country. Previously, the calculation used assignment duration months, resulting in a potential overstatement of tax costs.
Brazil
Income Tax
Corrected the following:
Hypo Income Detail Report to display the nonresident tax calculation when applicable.
Actual and Hypo Income Detail Reports to display annual amounts when using the nonresident tax calculation.
Bulgaria
Income Tax and Social Security
Changed the Tax Estimator currency from BGN to EUR with a 1.95583 conversion rate as a result of Bulgaria joining the Eurozone, effective January 1, 2026.
The default country currency, used in screens not relating to Cost Estimates or Compensation Calculations, is planned to change in Equus Platform v.26.2.0. If desired, the country currency can be changed early by navigating to Configuration > Countries and selecting Bulgaria, and changing the currency from BGN to EUR.
Canada
Prince Edward Island
Income Tax
Removed the surtax, effective January 1, 2024.
China
Income Tax
Removed Year Awareness functionality from the Preferential Bonus, Allowance, and Rate treatments. Previously, these treatments could only apply if the Calendar Year was 2027 or earlier.
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Social Security
Added the Health contribution at 0.5% and 2% for employees and employers, respectively, retroactively effective July 14th, 2025.
Curacao
Income Tax & Social Tax
Changed the currency from Netherlands Guilder (ANG) to Caribbean Guilder (XCG) with a one-to-one exchange rate.
Equatorial Guinea
Made the following changes, effective January 1, 2025:
Income Tax
Added enhanced income detail reports.
Updated the tax table from a seven-tiered to a five-tiered table with a 25% top rate on income exceeding XAF 20 million.
Removed the foreign tax credit.
Social Security
Added enhanced social detail reports.
Finland
Income Tax
Made the following changes, effective January 1, 2026:
Updated the tax table from a six-tiered table to a five-tiered table with a 37.5% top rate on income exceeding EUR 52,100.
Updated the tax credit to remove the phaseout. The credit is now a flat EUR 3,430 plus EUR 105 per dependent.
France
Income Tax
Corrected the following line items to be nontaxable when Qualifies for Inpat Concession? is set to Yes - Without Hypo Deduction or Yes - With Hypo Deduction:
Acceptance Bonus
Incentive/Performance Bonus
Cash in Lieu of Home Leave
Ghana
Income Tax
Corrected the calculation of bonus income to be taxable at a flat rate of 5% for residents and 20% for nonresidents, up to 15% of base salary. The remaining amount is subject to ordinary income tax rates. Previously, bonus income was taxed at the same rate as ordinary income.
Greece
Income Tax
Decreased most tax rates and added further rate reductions based on the number of dependents, effective January 1, 2026. The threshold for the 44% top rate increased by EUR 20,000 to EUR 60,000.
Guinea
Income Tax
Added a deduction of up to 25% of gross income for the following line items:
Goods and Services Allowance (previously nontaxable)
Per Diems Allowance (previously nontaxable. This allowance remains nontaxable as a short term business expense.)
Housing Allowance Host Country (previously taxable)
Transportation Allowance Host Country (previously taxable)
Indonesia
Social Security
Corrected the wage base to only include the following line items. Previously, social security was calculated on assignment income, resulting in a potential overstatement of tax costs.
Base Salary
Education Allowance
Expat Premium
Goods and Services Allowance
Hardship Allowance
Hazardous Duty Allowance
Housing Allowance Host Country
Misc. (Home, Host, Social, & Other) Taxable Costs
Other Compensation
Other Compensation (Home & Host)
Transportation Allowance Host Country
Italy
Income Tax
Applied a proration to foreign social contributions based on months spent in Italy when the employee remains a tax resident in the home country in determining the amount deductible in Italy. Also included the foreign social contribution as deductible for non-equalized calculations for inbound employees.
Corrected the following:
Regional tax rates for Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Toscana, Trento, Umbria, Valle d’Aosta, and Veneto. The previous calculation resulted in a potential regional tax cost misstatement of up to 2%.
Municipal Rate Override tax position to be available for Compensation Calculations.
Kazakhstan
Made the following changes, effective January 1, 2026:
Income Tax
Added enhanced income detail reports.
Updated the tax table from a 10% flat rate to a two-tiered table with a 15% top rate on income exceeding KZT 33.4 million.
Social Security
Added enhanced social detail reports.
Lithuania
Income Tax
Added a 25% bracket applicable to income between EUR 75,920 and EUR 126,533, effective January 1, 2026.
Nigeria
Income Tax
Made the following changes, effective January 1, 2026:
Updated the tax bracket rates and thresholds. The top bracket rate increased by 1% to 25% and applies to income over NGN 50 million.
Removed the Consolidated Relief Allowance and the minimum tax.
Added a Nontaxable Host Housing deduction for inbound employees. This estimator treats Camp Accommodations Host Country and Housing Costs Host Country as taxable up to 20% of company source compensation, with the remainder shown as a deduction.
Russia
Income Tax
Changed Primary or Secondary School Costs Host Country from taxable to nontaxable. Costs continue to be subject to social security.
Switzerland
Geneva
Income Tax
Updated the withholding table which incorporates the Federal, Cantonal, and Communal rates, effective January 1, 2026.
Neuchatel
Income Tax
Updated the withholding table which incorporates the Federal, Cantonal, and Communal rates, effective January 1, 2026.
Vaud
Income Tax
Updated the withholding table which incorporates the Federal, Cantonal, and Communal rates, effective January 1, 2026.
Zurich
Income Tax
Updated the withholding table which incorporates the Federal, Cantonal, and Communal rates, effective January 1, 2026.
Sint Maarten
Income Tax & Social Tax
Changed the currency from Netherlands Antillean Guilder (ANG) to Caribbean Guilder (XCG) with a one-to-one exchange rate.
United Kingdom
Social Security
Corrected the social security calculation when the 52-week rule applies. The change delivered with Equus Tax Engine v.25.6 resulted in scenarios where social taxes were not prorating.
Note: The 52-week rule applies when outbound employees break tax residency in the UK and the host country does not have a social security agreement with the UK.
United Arab Emirates
Social Security
Added the GCC National? tax position for Compensation Calculations.
Venezuela
Income Tax
Changed the following line items from nontaxable to taxable, unless treated as deductible as short-term business expenses (denoted by an asterisk):
Departure/Destination Services
Employee Language and Cultural Training Costs*
Employee Passport and Work Permit Costs*
Employee Pre-Assignment Medical Exam
Pre Assignment/Pre Repatriation Visit
Relocation Allowance
Temporary Housing in Foreign Country*
Temporary Housing in Home Country
Temporary Living Expenses*
Vietnam
Income Tax
Removed the 10% and 20% tax brackets and increased thresholds, effective January 1, 2026. The 35% top bracket applies to income over VND 1.2 billion.
Variable Updates
Updates to the following values are included in this release of the Equus Tax Engine. Updates with a similar effect may be consolidated to enhance readability (e.g. tax bracket thresholds, credits for successive dependents, etc.).
