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Ok - firstly I am not from the US and I am not working so I have no idea about how the taxes work here.
So I have googled and really can't find out how I would calculate what our tax bill would be if we decided to stay in the US and live in NY state. Husband not working in NYC though.
From what I have seen there are Federal taxes, then state taxes then property taxes ( based on your house value ?) ? Is this right ?
How do I work out what these would be.
I am playing with a fictitious salary as we are on an expat contract currently that includes housing allowance etc so we are just imagining what his 'local' salary would be.
We are trying to decide if staying in the US would be better financially than going to live in the UK or back to Hong Kong.....
I know that where we live property taxes are HUGE. the house we rent has an annual tax of 18,000 and thats not even as high as some of the houses we have seen up for sale in the area.
We are trying to decide if staying in the US would be better financially than going to live in the UK or back to Hong Kong.....
Despite how much Americans whine about taxes...
at virtually every possible bracket or permutation you might come up with
a fair evaluation will find that we pay substantially less than the citizens of any other western nation.
Despite how much Americans whine about taxes...
at virtually every possible bracket or permutation you might come up with
a fair evaluation will find that we pay substantially less than the citizens of any other western nation.
well thats what I keep reading but I can't actually find a way to calculate what our income tax would be...
In the UK income tax would be 50% and council tax on the we lived in before we moved is about 2,000 per year. our heating ( oil ) and electricity bills are around 3 times more than our bills were in the Uk for a similar size house - although it is 5 years since we actually lived in the UK so I guess they have gone up
Income tax in HK is 17% and property taxes are relatively low too and like the UK you don't get taxed from assets outside...
Are your overseas assets taxed in the US if you have a green card or just when you become a citizen ??
Ok - firstly I am not from the US and I am not working so I have no idea about how the taxes work here.
So I have googled and really can't find out how I would calculate what our tax bill would be if we decided to stay in the US and live in NY state. Husband not working in NYC though.
From what I have seen there are Federal taxes, then state taxes then property taxes ( based on your house value ?) ? Is this right ?
How do I work out what these would be.
I am playing with a fictitious salary as we are on an expat contract currently that includes housing allowance etc so we are just imagining what his 'local' salary would be.
We are trying to decide if staying in the US would be better financially than going to live in the UK or back to Hong Kong.....
I know that where we live property taxes are HUGE. the house we rent has an annual tax of 18,000 and thats not even as high as some of the houses we have seen up for sale in the area.
Federal tax is the same throughout the US .... rates here
State taxes will depend on where you live and where you work. You may also have city taxes. In NY, both NYC and Yonkers have a tax. We used to live in Westchester County, NY and, when we moved out to AZ, our state taxes went down dramatically.
Property taxes also depend where you live. Again, when we moved to AZ, our property tax went down dramatically. However, even in NY there are big differences. For example, Greenburgh is much cheaper than Scarsdale.
State taxes will depend on where you live and where you work. You may also have city taxes. In NY, both NYC and Yonkers have a tax. We used to live in Westchester County, NY and, when we moved out to AZ, our state taxes went down dramatically.
Property taxes also depend where you live. Again, when we moved to AZ, our property tax went down dramatically. However, even in NY there are big differences. For example, Greenburgh is much cheaper than Scarsdale.
Thank you.
Yes we noticed the difference between the different areas for the property taxes.
We are batting around ideas for where to live next if we move and I don't want to get too excited about anywhere until I makes sense financially.
Hong Kong is the favorite at the moment but the property prices are very high.... this is offset by the low income tax over say the next 15 years......
I wan never an economist and this is giving me a headache...
download the instruction booklet as well as the forms.
After an hour or so you'll see why people with even simple finances will hire it out
But you really need to have the Federal Forms done before you can do an individual state forms.
Quote:
In the UK income tax would be 50%
Income tax in HK is 17%
Nothing so cut and dried will be found here.
As part of that package of forms I linked to above...
be sure to get Schedule A (deductions; to lower taxable income)
(there are many others that will apply especially as you have investments)
Note: the tables that Jaggy linked to reflect rates applied to NET taxable income... not gross.
The last time Congress attempted to fix the US Tax Code they had the temerity to claim they "streamlined" things...
the documents and such actually grew by 50%.
The legislation became derisively known as "The Accountant and Tax Attorney Support Act of 19XX"
Quote:
Are your overseas assets taxed in the US if you have a green card or just when you become a citizen ??
No idea where those lines are drawn.
My best guess would be that the US will only tax income earned in the US...
Just look up US federal brackets (irs.gov, 1040 form for the tables themselves) and NY state income/property/sales tax rates (New York State treasurer). If your income falls in a certain range, you pay X amount of taxes a year (excluding deductions). Since it is a percentage rate of multiple tiers (X rate between income Y and Z, etc), you can't just ask how much it's going to be and have some one whip out an answer.
They should be largely posted online, I've never had a problem finding them for any state I've lived in.
Overseas assets need to be reported at least if the aggregate amount exceeds $10k, then you would have to look up the rule that governs the type of asset (Help With Tax Questions - International Taxpayers (http://www.irs.gov/help/page/0,,id=133197,00.html - broken link)).
hmm.... This really isn't easy... I think we might need a meeting with KPMG !!! I am far too stupid for this !! lol
We did declare our overseas monies and liquidated some shares etc when we moved here on advice - in case we decided to stay.
If we had kept the shares and they increased in value it all got too complicated.
I guess I could make good use of not being allowed to work and learn about the US tax system...
Incase you guys come here and are still concerned... you could always consult with a tax consultant your first time. Once you do it once, it's pretty basic year after for most people.
We are already here, but as we are on an expat package we don't have anything to do with taxes, that is all taken care of by KPMG. We just are trying to decide what to do after our contract is up next year... should we stay and take a local contract, go to the UK or move to HK..... it needs to make financial sense....
Every country has its pros and cons... I'm just trying to get a realistic figure of what our bottom line after taxes would be.
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