statspro

Hi,

I have three questions for US citizens living and working in Dubai. Should I consider an offer where the basic salary (60%) of the total compensation represents 60% of my current US base salary and 50% of the base salary of an offer that I have received recently from another company in TX? How high is the cost of living in Dubai when compared to cities like Dallas, TX and Tampa, FL? Is it common to ask an employer to reevaluate their offer?

Thanks!

Pulaski

Are you asking if you should accept a substantial pay cut to work in Dubai? .... Sorry, I found your percentages confusing.

Do you realize that US citizens must complete a tax return for the IRS no matter where in the world they live? You can then deduct income tax paid locally if you are living and working outside the US, which effectively means if you are working in most industrialized countries you have zero extra tax to pay to the IRS, but if you are working in the Middle East you will have a whopping tax bill to pay.

statspro

My apologies. Let me rephrase my first question. Would it make sense to accept an offer in Dubai where the base salary (excluding housing and transportation allowances) represent 60% of my current base salary in Florida, US? I am aware that US citizen are liable for incomes taxes beyond a certain threshold (around $100k) in the UAE.

hnd

I realise I'm being a bit 'picky' here but ... you're asking questions of US expats living in Dubai on "British Expats"?

Pulaski

There are more US citizens active on British Expats than you might realise.

statspro

Okay, let's assume I am in the UK, should I consider such an offer?

frequentflyer1234

Without giving details of the FULL package it's impossible to give any advice.

scrubbedexpat141

The 'basic' element of the salary here can be skewed to keep gratuity lower or in line with about 60% of the total package.

So how does the total on offer here compare?

statspro

You are absolutely right, the total package is 60-30-10. The total offer is exactly equal to my base salary in the US. Further, the bonus percentage in the offer is based on the basic salary only, which makes it much lower than my bonus in the US.

The worst part is that I live in a metro area in the US where the cost of living is substantially lower than the one in NYC or San Francisco metros. I do not see any financial incentive in accepting the offer package in Dubai where the rent is at least 4 times the rent here.

weasel decentral

Unless I am missing something why are you even considering this?

statspro

Honestly, I am wondering myself. Except for the title promotion, I do not see any other incentive.

scrubbedexpat141

What he said.

DXBtoDOH

Slap them in the face for wasting your time with a silly offer.

For future references, you should receive an offer of at least 50% more your current salary to make the move to the UAE.

weasel decentral

The only way I can see it working is if the 60% plus the bonus in UAE stays below the US tax threshold and you gain based on the saving the tax you'd pay in the US.
Though that can probably only be marginal in any case.

carcajou

DXBtoDOH is correct. You should not consider a Dubai offer unless it is at minimum 40-50% more than what you are currently making.

Your increase in title will not translate to a stepping stone or promotion in the US. When you leave Dubai, you will go back to whatever level you are at now, regardless of promotion in Dubai.

Whatever company is making you this offer, is trying to lowball you and do things on the cheap. It is possible they found other Americans to take the offer, who were out-of-work and just needed a job, any job, and so took that "offer." They came up with that figure from somewhere . . .

On your income tax, you can exclude foreign-earned income up to a certain amount, which is something like $100,000 per year. This is provided that you are resident in a foreign country for 330 days a year. US-generated income, like if you rent out your house, is still subject to tax.