Help a stupid Canadian...how does tax work in Texas? (Austin: health insurance, mortgage)

[CanadiansLoveTexas]

I'm in the process of relocating to Austin, and I want to do a budget (as well as figure out how much pay I should negotiate for!)

When you get a paycheck, how much do you keep?

Keeping the math simple, if someone makes $60k a year, that's approximately $5k a month, or $2,500 every 2 weeks. So for a $2,500 check, there's no income tax (right?) - is there some other kind of tax than gets deducted?

How much is health insurance? In Canada it's of course free, but our taxes are insane.

I read a little about property tax, which I know is a little on the high side...but could someone give me an estimate - how much do you pay per month?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Thanks

[austin-steve]

When you get a paycheck, how much do you keep?

I'm not sure, as a Canadian, if the government would take federal income tax deductions from your check. You probably need to call an accountant familiar with foreign worker taxes.

Property taxes are paid annually unless you have the payment deducted with your mortgage payment. In the Austin area, property taxes currently range from 1.88% to 2.79% depending on where you live. In Austin proper, it's about 2.2%, so a $200K house would be about $4,400/yr.

Steve

[Trainwreck20]

Most typical paychecks have 20 - 30% taken out for federal taxes, social secruity, etc. depending on your tax bracket and what you claim as exemptions. The amount deducted for insurance varies, but I would guess that most companies take out the cost of insurance for an individual before the paycheck is cut (it is essential included in your job, not your check). If you have dependents (wife, kids), then this will come out of the paycheck as an additional expense and can vary widely.

[austin-steve]

How much is health insurance? In Canada it's of course free, but our taxes are insane.

I don't want to drift off topic here, but I'm curious as to about how much monthly you pay for your free health insurance. It's going to be a big topic in our Presidential race this year.
Steve

[texastea]

To get 2500 gross every two weeks you need to make 65,000. (65,000/26) Just don't want you to negotiate too low

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

I don't want to drift off topic here, but I'm curious as to about how much monthly you pay for your free health insurance. It's going to be a big topic in our Presidential race this year.
Steve

Actually, good and simple info on the Canadian system is offered on the snopes site debunking a mass email...

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Canadian Health Care

[Paulmmm]

CanadiansLoveTexas, another piece of good info for you to have might be to ask the board what a legitimate salary range would be for your specifics - you're looking for job X in industry Y in locale Z with N number of years experience. That would give you a bit more ammunition when you start negotiating. Then you might be able to more easily figure out taxes and such based on a real number.

As far as the cost of health insurance, that depends on what plan(s) you get and how much of it your employer pays for you. Some pay the whole thing, but most just pay a certain percentage and you pay the rest. It varies company to company and is definitely something that you need to talk about when negotiating your salary and whole benefits package.

And for what it's worth, my wife is Canadian (she's still talking about last night's Leafs shutout ) and she absolutely loves Austin!

[Moonlady]

Salary.com is a good website for determining the going salaries for a particular area.

[CanadiansLoveTexas]

In Canada, I'm currently paying around 29% off each paycheck, because I'm just below the mark where they bump you to 55%. I think the cut-off is anyone making over $52k, or something close to that. COMPLETELY ridiculous, I know.

You can keep more of your income by investing in RRSP's, which puts your money into a retirement savings plan. Although this can bump you down to a lower tax bracket, you can't remove cash from the RRSP until you're retired without paying a penalty.

Property tax is around over half of Austin. $4,400 a year for a $200k home sounds very steep!

Sales tax is 13% (GST+PST), down from 15% a while back. VERY steep, and virtually everything is taxed. Food, clothes, etc.

Mortgage is not tax deductible (I read it was in the US?)

Benefits:
Women get one year off for maternity leave
They get full pay for 8 weeks, and 55% of their pay for the rest
May jobs offer 3 weeks full paid vacation
Taking sick days is very flexible most places
Need a life-saving surgery? It's not $200,000...it's free
Housing market is stable, and very strong in some areas (my home has gone up in value $30k over 6 months)


FYI, I'm a Marketing Manager / Director who specializes in online marketing and product management. I'm looking for something in the $65k - $75k neighborhood.

I love the burbs...would like to live maybe 10-20 min drive outside Austin. Would like a pool, some decent space, etc. Nothing massive, but in a nice safe neighborhood.

[austifornian]

You will have taxes with held from your check, Federal income tax, Social Security Tax, Medicare, Unemployment Tax, Disability Tax, etc. The only one of these that you can control the level of is the federal income tax. In general, you pay income taxes where you earn them, so money earned in the US is taxable by the US (this is the same state to state also, if I earn money in CA, CA wants their cut).

The good thing for Canadians is that the US and Canada have a tax treaty to prevent people from being taxed twice. You will probably have to file returns in both countries (this varies by visa) but the tax you pay in Canada will turn into a tax credit on your US return. I think the same is true for the Social Security - you can have it moved into the Canadian retirement system. I would check at Internal Revenue Service and the Canadian equivalent for the most accurate info. Your won't know what your final tax liability is until the end of the year, but figure on 20%-25% being witheld on a weekly basis.