Newbie going to Doha, infor required
Dec 20th 2011, 11:23 am
#1
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Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 3
Newbie going to Doha, infor required
Hi All,
My Wife will be working in Qatar for while (18 months at least)and I have a few of questions:
1. Best way of converting Qatari Riyals to UK sterling
2. What is the best international bank account to open, so that the money can be transferred and accessed from anywhere in the world, but needs to be held as UK sterling.
3. How long do you need to work outside the EU in order not to pay any Tax on the income.
4. How hard is it for women to work out there?
Thanks in Advance
My Wife will be working in Qatar for while (18 months at least)and I have a few of questions:
1. Best way of converting Qatari Riyals to UK sterling
2. What is the best international bank account to open, so that the money can be transferred and accessed from anywhere in the world, but needs to be held as UK sterling.
3. How long do you need to work outside the EU in order not to pay any Tax on the income.
4. How hard is it for women to work out there?
Thanks in Advance
Dec 20th 2011, 12:57 pm
#2
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: Newbie going to Doha, infor required
Welcome to BE 
If you have a search around, you'll probably already find some of that info as it's fairly general.
As for banking, perhaps just open a local bank account and use a currency exchange service to transfer the money on a fixed contract, something like xe.com or hifx etc, etc...would get a better rate at least.
The tax question isn't that easy to answer, because things will likely change in April and there has been quite a bit of talk on this.
If you have a search around, you'll probably already find some of that info as it's fairly general.
As for banking, perhaps just open a local bank account and use a currency exchange service to transfer the money on a fixed contract, something like xe.com or hifx etc, etc...would get a better rate at least.
The tax question isn't that easy to answer, because things will likely change in April and there has been quite a bit of talk on this.
Dec 21st 2011, 3:55 am
#3
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 605
Re: Newbie going to Doha, infor required
Best way to change QR to sterling is by cash transfer in Qatar,
Bank depends on what you want: HSBC in Qatar has sterling accounts, sells itself as the International Bank. All banks are pretty useless when it comes to dealing with customers and customer requirements.
Bob's advice is correct the tax rules will change. Also there are no rules for working outside of the EU. Each country in the EU has different rules. For working outside of UK the minimum requirement for achieving tax free status is that you must be out of the country for a full tax year (April to April). That does not mean that you will be tax free, but unless you are out from April to April you will definitely not be tax free.
We all have problems working in Qatar - the country is simply incapable of planning anything- generally women do not have any major problems working in Qatar. But it is a however still a man's world. The admin manager in this office is a women, the secretaries are women the rest are all men of mixed race, some of whom have difficulties working with and being managed by a women. Depends on where she is working and what she is doing.
Bank depends on what you want: HSBC in Qatar has sterling accounts, sells itself as the International Bank. All banks are pretty useless when it comes to dealing with customers and customer requirements.
Bob's advice is correct the tax rules will change. Also there are no rules for working outside of the EU. Each country in the EU has different rules. For working outside of UK the minimum requirement for achieving tax free status is that you must be out of the country for a full tax year (April to April). That does not mean that you will be tax free, but unless you are out from April to April you will definitely not be tax free.
We all have problems working in Qatar - the country is simply incapable of planning anything- generally women do not have any major problems working in Qatar. But it is a however still a man's world. The admin manager in this office is a women, the secretaries are women the rest are all men of mixed race, some of whom have difficulties working with and being managed by a women. Depends on where she is working and what she is doing.
