Expert Group Opinion: do the costs of a permit application constitute salary?

In a couple of recently published expert group opinions the Tax and Customs Administration considered the question of whether the costs incurred by an employer when applying for a work and residence permit (combined) should be regarded as taxable salary. 

One of the expert group opinions is about the intra-corporate transferee (ICT) permit. This is a type of combined residence and work permit, specially intended for executives, specialists and trainees whose nationality lies outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland and who are being transferred within the group to the Dutch branch. The other expert group opinion specifically concerns employees who come to the Netherlands under the special knowledge migrants scheme. 

The expert group considers that both the consultancy costs of the ICT and the work permit for knowledge migrants should be split into a part that relates to the employee’s stay in the Netherlands and a part that covers employment in the Netherlands. The costs include consultancy fees for the application, renewal and conversion. In the expert groups’ view, the part that covers residence should be viewed as taxable salary, while the part that relates to employment  should not be considered as such. Fees paid to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) by the employer qualify as taxable salary. The employer can designate the taxable benefit as a final levy amount under the work-related costs scheme.

However, the outstanding question in practice - which is not answered in the expert group opinion - is whether and how such costs incurred can be divided into a part that relates to residence and a part that relates to employment.