Tax equalization is a policy applied by some international companies under which employees who are hired in one country and later accept a (temporary) assignment in another country do not have their total after-tax ("take-home") compensation changed depending on the tax regimes of the country they move to. If the employee is assigned to a country with lower taxes, the company takes the savings. On the other hand, if they move to a country with higher taxation, the company pays the excess. Either way, under a tax equalization policy, the after-tax compensation received by the employee is same. The purpose of such policies is to help companies fulfill international staffing needs without employees being incentivized or disincentivized from accepting particular assignments due to tax differences between countries.

A similar policy which only benefits the employee (reducing taxes if working abroad results in higher taxes, but not raising them if working abroad results in lower taxes), then it is referred to as a tax protection policy.