[barbara30]

changed to remove details

[KnowItAll]

If you've got your rental taken care of, you're in a better position than many people we know.

One tip -- make sure you put aside 20-30% the first year for your taxes. Hong Kong taxes are usually paid in advance -- so you get hit for 2 years worth of taxes in your first bill. (What you owe .. + what the govt estimates your next years income will be)

[KnowItAll]

One more thing. Do make sure that they take care of setup costs like deposits, estate agent's commission etc.

[barbara30]

Hi Thanks for that,

We will be pressing for more money but i just wanted an idea of what we should be aiming for.

Does the company not decuct taxes from your salary? are the taxes purely tax on wages or are there others. 30% seems very high and reduces salary a good deal. what happens if you are only in Hong Kong for a year will they still want 2 years tax?

thanks

Barbara

[KnowItAll]

You can go through a process and request Immd to reduce the provisional taxes. You cannot however prevent them from billing you.

As a salaried employee, you are expected to pay taxes on the salary. Your rental allowance if documented correctly (or paid directly to the landlord by the company) has a significant tax free component to it (90% if I recall).

Individual taxes: http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/tax/ind.htm
Tax Calculator: http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/ese/st_com..._05/stcfrm.htm

I think the tax base might be lower, since your husband can claim you as a dependant.

[barbara30]

Your a star

thanks for all your help

Barbara

[berryplucker]

KIA,

It simply isn't true in general that you pay tax in advance. You are Assessed in advance, but you actually pay 75% in January and 25% in April for the tax year ending in that April, so your cash flow is better than if you were on PAYE.

The maximum tax is 16.5%.

Barbara,

That's over 3 times average household income for HK, so you should be fine.

[Geoff]

Originally Posted by barbara30

Hi could anyone tell me if HK$33,880 plus 24,000-rent allowance is enough to have a comfortable life in Hong Kong? We are from UK but live in Ireland. We are a couple with NO kids and we get health care.

Thanks

Barbara

Yes, you'll be able to live somewhere nice, eat out frequently and enjoy a lot of good holidays. Tax in HK is very low - most of the money you spend on rent is tax free.

The main thing you should be prepared for is your flat will be much smaller than you are used to in the UK if you want to live in the trendy expat areas like mid-levels. If you are prepared to look outside of there then you can expect to only pay around half your rental allowance which will get you somewhere nice with included maid service if you like.

For some examples of costs

* most journeys on the MTR (underground) cost 50p to £1
* you can eat out starting from around £1.50/head for a local Chinese place to £5/head in a normal restaurant or £10-15 a head for the trendy restaurants in mid-Levels
* you can get short holidays to the surrounding area (Thailand, China, Malaysia, Bali etc) for £200pp including flights and hotels for 3 or 4 nights.
* a 5 minute cab ride will cost about £2 - taxis are plentiful and cheap here.

I think that's where most of my money goes - accomodation, food and holidays and the rest ends up in the bank.

Set aside 20% a month for taxes - that will cover it easily and you'll have a big chunk of money left at the end of the tax year too. Use the calculators on the links and you can worth it out for yourself, but compared with the UK taxes here are wondeful.

It's worth mentioning there is no VAT, no capital gains tax, no tax on investment income, no tax on savings income etc.... really adds up!

[berryplucker]

Originally Posted by Geoff

* you can eat out starting from around £1.50/head for a local Chinese place to £5/head in a normal restaurant or £10-15 a head for the trendy restaurants in mid-Levels

Erm, excluding drinks I guess so, just about. Although it is also very easy to blow £70-100 (HK$1500) per head or more on a meal including wine. I know places that will charge you £1-20 (HK$17) for a bottle of Bud (for example, not that I would drink it) and I know places that charge £4-50 (HK$65). So you can live at any level you wish.

[JJexpat]

I have heard that rental expenses are somehow deductible in Hong Kong, but do not see how. What's that about?