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The problem is... in Italy the 60-70% of taxes is JUST salary tax (look for "studi di settore")... then you have to add real estate tax (ICI), taxes on other incomes (es. rentals), sales taxes, mandatory car insurance, other insurances... wanna talk about oil price in Italy? About 3-4 times than in USA...). I'm not saying tha USA is better than every other place, but TRUST ME, it's better than Italy, and this is not hard...
However, I'm not here to talk about my motivation in moving away from Italy... but it's a long list, and economic issues are just some of the hundreds...!
60 or 70?? That's higher than all of the Northern European countries, which are known to have some of the highest income taxes in the world. Is that really the income tax in Italy??
I don't want to go off topic... however... look for "studi di settore". Basically it's a system (awful system) with which the states DECIDES how much you should earn in a year, depending on your profession. The problem is... many professions are not considered... so you have to pay taxes calculated on an other profession with another salary... and if a year you earn less than the previous year... the states doesn't care, you HAVE to pay taxes on 50,000 € salary, even if this year you earned 10,000 €...!
It's crazy! For a freelancer or a consultant is the worst taxing system... (if you PAY taxes...we have A LOT of tax evader, there's people who declare 0 € of salary on drive Ferrari or Porche cars... we have to pay taxes also for them!!!
Not talking about residence taxes, taxes on other revenues, dispose taxes, (I don't know how you call it in USA...), 20% sales tax, the "accise" (so called "hidden taxes"), energy taxes, garbage taxes, taxes on your own shadow, etc...
But, as I said, there are many other reasons for me to escape from Italy and taxes are not the most important.
In this topic you gave me a lot of ideas about places to live in USA. Now I'll try to check in states forum to look for more specific information!
Last edited by FrankBS; 07-16-2009 at 08:07 AM..
Reason: grammatical correction
I was trying to clarify my ideas after this thread... and I was collecting informations about two US states: New Jersey and Texas, which attract me mostly...
About Texas I was trying to collect infos about housing and living cost and geography in Austin and Dallas areas... and I found out that also Oklahoma city seems to be interesting... it seems to have low cost of living, maybe lower than TX, even if taxes are higher... what about this city? Pros/cons?
I was trying to clarify my ideas after this thread... and I was collecting informations about two US states: New Jersey and Texas, which attract me mostly...
About Texas I was trying to collect infos about housing and living cost and geography in Austin and Dallas areas... and I found out that also Oklahoma city seems to be interesting... it seems to have low cost of living, maybe lower than TX, even if taxes are higher... what about this city? Pros/cons?
Thank you again for your help!
Well, if freedom and taxation, or lack there of, is important to you, than Texas is a no-brainer.
I was trying to clarify my ideas after this thread... and I was collecting informations about two US states: New Jersey and Texas, which attract me mostly...
About Texas I was trying to collect infos about housing and living cost and geography in Austin and Dallas areas... and I found out that also Oklahoma city seems to be interesting... it seems to have low cost of living, maybe lower than TX, even if taxes are higher... what about this city? Pros/cons?
Thank you again for your help!
New Jersey is nice, the closer you get to Philadelphia. Central and Southern NJ are nice. Northern NJ (close to NYC) is very expensive and is not worth it. Be forewarned, New Jersey has the highest overall taxes in the entire United States (i.e., income tax, property tax, sales tax, and other taxes).
Texas has a very low overall tax burden. I visited Dallas a lot on business and was never really impressed--feels too new and sterile. I'd recommend Austin, or if you prefer smaller cities, San Antonio.
I hope you and your family have relocated to the USA and are very very happy. We need some new blood in this country, aside from the middle eastern people we have had such in influx of. Italy and Europe as a whole are where our roots are. I personally welcome you to the USA. Sorry I can't be there to welcome you in person when you arrive. It really is a great country contrary to what you might have read or seen on television. Drugs is now at epidemic proportions, but it probably is in other countries as well. The drug addicts are slowly killing each other off as well as killing themselves off, so maybe soon we will be rid of them completely. The problem now is the drug addicts usually leave a stream of children, each with a different daddy. They always make more. Then the process starts all over again. Gosh, I think I've talked myself into moving to Italy.
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