It shouldn't matter in terms of income tax. Your effective U.S. tax rate should be higher, so the only difference would be how much tax ends up paid to Singapore versus the U.S. The Foreign Tax Credit on your U.S. tax return will account for that.Techie2016 wrote:Is it advantageous for me to be in singapore less than 183 days and pay the 15% tax rate for non-residents but over 60 days, or should I stay through 183 days to get resident status?
In Singapore, yes, fully. If you can qualify for the FEIE as mentioned above then part of that company-provided housing will be U.S. tax exempt, so you can pick up some tax savings there. But you have to hit 330 days in Singapore to make that happen.Does the company housing provided for me in Singapore get counted as taxable income?
BBCWatcher wrote:Some more points:
1. Stay away from anything even slightly investment-related in Singapore with the possible exception of direct purchase of Singapore Government Securities (government bonds). It's just not worth the tax complications, particularly when you're not spending much time in Singapore, relatively speaking. Just stick to one, simple, ordinary bank account (and then only if you need one, e.g. to receive salary in Singapore). Citibank Singapore's "Tap and Save" account is my favorite.
2. You will probably be required to fill out FinCEN Form 114 annually if you have a non-U.S. financial account. That may already be true, but it will very likely be true if you get a bank account in Singapore.
3. Sign up for a low cost U.S. credit and debit card if you don't have one, before you go. My current favorites right now are Citizens Bank's Cash Back Plus World MasterCard (with Capital One's Quicksilver -- the no annual fee version -- a close runner up) and Charles Schwab's debit/ATM card (either from the brokerage or from Charles Schwab Bank). These cards are very, very good for international travel, including a stint in Singapore when you might need a way to spend money when you first arrive. After your first paycheck your Tap and Save debit/ATM card can take over for local spending in Singapore. (I wouldn't use that card outside Singapore.)
4. You'll probably want to establish a reasonably low cost way to transmit Singapore dollars back to the U.S. as you start accumulating them. There are a few options, and it's worth spending a bit of time researching them.
5. Pay attention to any other employment-related benefits that matter to you: disability insurance, life insurance, medical insurance, employee stock purchase plan, etc. You may lose some or all of those benefits depending on the arrangements. "It depends."
6. You will very likely need to make estimated U.S. income tax payments during your stint in Singapore at least if you are not going to qualify for the FEIE.
7. If you're very cash flow sensitive -- if you're living paycheck-to-paycheck -- then this adventure will be hard. You're probably going to have a spike in spending (and perhaps also tax payments) then more income/less tax -- the cash flow might be "lumpy." Just be prepared for that if you can.
Good luck.
Maybe, probably not. To be tax equalized means that your employer will guarantee that you won't pay more tax in a foreign assignment than you would if you were in the USA.Techie2016 wrote:Wow you're a big help. I was just notified by my employer that "The assignee is not tax equalized".
I am a US citizen, and will work for a US company while living in Singapore for 6 months this year. Does me being not tax equalized affect me negatively?
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