Tax And Green Card
 

Hi
I Have Been Offered A Job By My Company And Relocation To Houston. Can Anyone Tell Me 2 Things.
1.i Will Obviously Be Sponsered By My Company Who Will Obtain The Necessary Work Permits But Will My Wife Be Able To Work Striaght Away Or If Not How Long Before She Could.
2. How Much Income Tax/insurance Will I Expect To Pay In Texas. I Hear There's No State Income Tax But What Else Is There?

Thanks Jon

Re: Tax And Green Card
 

If You Come Over On A Work Visa, She Will Probably Not Be Allowed To Work (With An H-4 Visa). You Should Get Your Company To Find Her A Job As Well. Alternatively, Bring Her Over And Find Her An Employer Who Will Get Her A Work Visa (She Can Reclassify After She Gets Here). But That Will Take Time, Energy And Patience.

If You Are Getting A Green Card That Will Also Take A Lot Of Time (For Yourself). You Would Almost Certainly Come First On A Work Visa (L Or H).

Re: Tax And Green Card
 

On an H4 visa she will definitely not be allowed to work.

Re: Tax And Green Card
 

Lucky....must be L visa...H1B's aren't available for ages yet...

As for moving costs, well there were a few threads about relocating, one started by Rete, about retiring, anyway, there were lots of good links in that about tax cost and coast of living calculaters etc...

welcome to the site btw.

Re: Tax And Green Card
 

LOL ;) Thats Sort Of Mean But Exactly What I Was Thinking As I Was Reading, Maybe The OP Is A Wayward Keyboard Technician Or Perhaps Likes Title Case?? :D blimey, we must be bored or something :)

Re: Tax And Green Card
 

if you're getting relocated by your employer, it should be no problem to ask an hr person about the US tax implications of working in texas.

ps: i'm writing wholly in lower case to counterbalance your use of capitals in your original message.



NC Penguin

Re: Tax And Green Card
 

My company transferred me from Sunny Bournemouth to Snowy (well not anymore) Delaware last year. I was granted an L1 visa and my husband got an L2. He was then able to apply for work authorisation, this took about 5 weeks for it to arrive in the post. I believe in some States it may take longer. I found it quite interesting that whilst i am tied to only working for my company he gets more freedom and can work for anyone he likes.

P.S. We have no State Taxes in Delaware either :D

Re: Tax And Green Card
 

There are indeed no state income taxes in Texas (which can be a distinct advantage over, say, Cali or NY), BUT, if you are buying a property, be aware that the property taxes are high here (partly to make up for the absence of state taxes). Not high enough to outweigh the advantage of no state tax, but still higher than a lot of other places. I'm you are renting, of course, that won't affect you (at least not directly). Rent, by the way, if typically very cheap in Texas compared to other states.

By the way, lots of people have a love it/hate it relationship with Houston. It is a very big and very humid city. Still, it does have its charms too. Here's a thread with some pros and cons. http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258618

Re: Tax And Green Card
 

Quick calculation for 2005 tax is as follows:

Medicare tax ( 1.45% ) = wage * 0.0145

Social Security = ( 6.2% ) = wage * 0.062 [ maximum SS tax is $5,580.00 ]

Federal tax: goto www.irs.gov and enter "withholding calculator" in search box. Goto withholding calculator and enter your wage, start = jan, tax paid = 0, and it will calculate the 2005 federal tax amount.