I am just a newbie on this forum. In need of advice.

I am currently a PhD student at the Univ of Nottingham, UK and will be moving to US in late Feb 2010 on J1 visa. I have secured a postdoctoral position at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia for a period of 3 years. My monthly salary will be $ 3,114 per month initially. I was wondering how much will I be taxed (inclusive income tax and SSN contributions) per month. Could you also let me know how much will be the monthly expenses for a single person in area nearby UPenn ?

Any advice will be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Immu

Not sure what the tax bands are. You would need to add up the Federal taxes (www.irs.gov), PA state taxes (http://www.doreservices.state.pa.us/), plus the Philadelphia City Wage Tax (3.93% if you live in the city, 3.5% if you live outside city).

H

Thanks for the reply. Is there any website I can refer to for specific details on taxes mentioned above.

what you pay in tax in the UK, about the same rate....plus whatever you have to pay for medical insurance and that'll be your biggest expense.

Initial few months will be more pricey because you don't have credit history, read the wiki there, deposit for all your utilities, if your living off campus, deposit usually consists of first/last plus a month refundable. Need a car, expensive insurance etc.

The area's a bit of a dump though, considering how big the city is and the uni.

http://www.city-data.com/ great for general info and craigslist for an idea on rents, your moving at a odd time though, middle of winter, most rentals don't like people leaving during winter so might be harder finding a rental, especially as it's not at the beginning of the academic year.

yup, irs is federal and the local PA gov site will have something for taxes in the area.

http://www.paycheckcity.com/netpayca...calculator.asp is a good one, but more so if moving from another state.

http://www.taxrates.com/calc_tax.htm bit more basic to get a gist of things.

Hello Bob,

Thanks for the links and unprecedented advice. I will get back to the thread if I have further queries.

If you're sure you're going to be here more than 2 years, do NOT do the tax treaty!

I know nothing about PA taxes, but if you're moving to Philly you'll need to know Monks Cafe.

Unless you're a tart, in which case you'll want to be down by 2nd, where the girls dance on the bar...