"Wayne Knight" wrote in message
...
"riverman" wrote in message
...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/...ess/expats.php

Those rat *******s. Because of the cost of rentals in HK, my housing
benefit is technically higher than my income. And now I'm going to be
taxed on this 'invisible money' at a rate higher than if I was even
living in the US.

If what you say about your income is accurate, get your contract changed
and the housing allowance moved into your base salary.

The school is looking at ways to legally accomodate this new law, but their
first impression is that there will be a mass exodus of americans in the
next few years.


Otherwise, I'd like to sympathize but I don't get my first 80K tax exempt
nor my housing paid for.



'First' 80K? Who makes anywhere near $80K? And my HK taxes are already
higher than my US taxes would be, as they are at a flat rate, with no
exemption or standard deduction. Also, you get to have a retirement plan, a
ROTH, a representative in the government to protect your rights, etc. You
also get the option to own your housing, and to write off the interest on
your loan against your mortage payment, which is akin to having your housing
paid for and then some.

We've been down this road before, but trust me; being an expat worker is
just another slice of real life; it comes with its benefits and its
expenses, but its not the end of the rainbow. Its a choice of lifestyle
based on knowing the benefits and deficits. Getting a tax benefit isn't some
sort of free pass to nevernever land, and when its invoked on a teacher's
salary, and offset by the expenses of living overseas, its not even such a
big thing. My out of pocket expenses for living overseas far exceed the
taxes I'd be paying on my salary if I worked back home.

But now, the primary benefit just went away, and a huge expense just
increased. Hitting expat workers for a tax hike is just a cheap shot, as our
tax benefit is absolutely nothing compared to the tax release Bush just gave
the ultra rich, and we have no lobby, no legal representation, and no one
looking out for our side. And it generates a very strange type of
sympathetic support for Bush when other 'victims' of his fiscal
mismanagement see him picking on someone else other than them. Its a
smokescreen for the tax cuts to the wealthy.

--riverman