Dutchie

Hi DD,

Dutch as well? And I normally do understand the UK humor. My ex girlfriend was British.

Desert Dweller

From Delft. My wife and mother are British (not one and the same person I might add!).

Dutchie

Hahaha... Understand. So where on planet earth are you living and working? I see you all over this board.

Desert Dweller

Live and work in Hong Kong but did time in Dubai and Oman before that. Shell-brat as a kid so lived in lots of places growing up (11 countries in 36 years!).

Dutchie

Well you broke the record, 10 countries in 51 years for me. China would be my eleventh if I come to an agreement with the Americans. Only Far East experience I had was Japan, and they say "Never say never again" but it's not on my top ten list of countries I would want to go back to.

Dutchie

I guess the P.R.China really is one of the last real frontiers for an old school expat like me. This planet Earth is getting to tiny for me, to civilized, high time they put people on the Moon or perhaps Mars? Beam me up Scottie... Scottie? Scottie!?!? Scottie where the f**k are you!?!?!?!?


Dutchie

Desert Dweller

Considered Bhutan?

Dutchie

Hi DD,

Would love to visit Bhutan one day. A big boys dream right? The P.R.China job is a no go for me, can't come to a financial agreement with the Chinese, the Americans where more then willing, so blew the job offer off. Got an offer for Ethiopia though witch sounds interesting. Wouldn't mind returning to Africa again. I have worked in Egypt and South Africa in the 1990's and 1980's before.

Dutchie

Desert Dweller

Shame the job fell through but sounds like you have plenty of alternatives.
Bhutan is definitely on my 'to do' list- a change of clothes and a bag of camera gear is all I'd need!
I used to have a couple of Ethiopians working for me and said that the Ethiopia on TV is a world away from most of the real Ethiopia. In winter they're wearing thick coats! They opened a fish and chip shop in Addis Ababa so you can look them up- can't imagine there are many fish and chip shops there!

Dutchie

Hi DD,

Well had my first talk with the Dutch / Ethiopians yesterday afternoon. The package they are offering is awesome. And yes, it is one of the last frontiers on this planet. And yes, Ethiopia is far from perfect. It might sound weird, but places like that make me feel like a fish in water. As for China? They wanted to pay the salary in full in the P.R.China. Plus I need to buy my own car there and all furniture I would need. I learned the hard way in the early 1980's in Egypt never to do that again. Remember a few bombs going off, Dutch embassy telling me to stay inside and wait. Me leaving behind a fully furnished apartment and a five month old Land Rover I paid for myself. From Port Said to Beirut on a Lebanese sea freighter, from Beirut airport to Holland in three days. Nope... Won't invest in a temperately home away from home ever again, stay as mobile as I possibly can is my expat motto.

erexchen

If your monthly salary is USD 3,500 (around CNY 23,954), your tax will be CNY3,455.8. If you get full ie USD 20,000 in China, your tax will be CNY 44,107.

A Chinese lawyer based in Shanghai

dys

A chinese lawyer:

I'm afraid you're completely wrong regarding the tax. It should be irrelevant whether he is paid wholly or partly in RMB. If you are resident in China (spend more than 183 days a year there) you are taxed on your worldwide income. So he'll be taxed on the full 20k regardless of where it is paid. Think about it logically, everyone would route their salary offshore if you could get out of paying tax that way.

To the OP, one of the main reasons why your potential employers were unwilling to pay overseas is due to china's foreign exchange rules. it's pretty hard remitting salary overseas for some companies, not to mention a bit of an admin hassle.

erexchen

If the expat's home country has no tax treaty with China, then if he is resident in China for more than 90 days in a calendar year (from January 1 to December 31) , he shall pay tax in China for the salary which may be paid by oversea employer. If there is tax treaty between his home country and China, then if he is resident in China for more than 183 days in a calendar year, he shall pay tax in China for the salary which is paid by oversea employer.

So whether he is liable to pay tax for the salary paid by oversea employer shall be decided the totaly days he resides in China in a calendar year. If he travels a lot oversea and stay less than 90 or 183 days in China, he is not necessary to pay tax for his oversea salary.

Dutchie

Hi DYS,

Although the employment deal is off, Holland doesn't have a tax treaty with the P.R.China. I think only the UK and Germany have, but could be wrong there, so don't pin me down on it. Therefore the biggest part of my salary would have been tax free as it would have bypassed my Chinese bank account and gone into a EU none resident, multi currency account directly.

Dutchie

dys

erexchen - nice try to redeem yourself, but your original point was not based on the location of the employer but based on where the salary was paid. Two completely different issues. Stick to the non-tax legal work 吧。

Dutchie - just because the salary is paid into an offshore account does not mean its tax free. If you are resident in China i.e spend more than 183 days a calendar year there you need to declare it to the tax authorities. if you didnt the chinese tax authorities could easily pick up on that because its being remitted overseas by a chinese company. Anyway this is academic seeing as the offers off.