Uk - Move to Singapore?

[J.D]

Good Afternoon All!

It is looking possible that I may be offered a role in Singapore some time in the near future. I currently live in the UK, am mid twenties and have no wife / children.

I'm looking to see a bit of the world and hopefully stack away a few pounds as well. The contract is looking to last 2-3 years.

From what i have researched, Singapore is by no means cheap. I have been asked to give a figure of the Salary that i would be looking for in order to move there but I am completely stumped as to what i should suggest. I am currently on £50k in the UK and would imagine a little big of a rise if I was to move to singapore.


My main question is, realistically is that Salary going to keep you alive and what sort of lifestyle can you live off it?

What sort of salary tends to get you a decent place + some money to save every month.

I'm not looking to get a car by the way, I see that they are extremely expensive.

I understand this is a very broad post, so please feel free to ask questions.

JD

[nutnut]

JD, there are a lot of posts similar in the forum that may give you some help in this kind of line of questioning, however, some things you should ask for are as follows.

Relocation fees (shipping, flights, 1 month stay in Serviced Apartment)
Decent holidays - minimum holidays here are 7 or 10 days a year, 25 as per the UK is not always to be assumed, depending on the company and your level.
Apartment Bond - 2 year leases usually require a bond of 2 months rent and a months rent up front, this is the thing that kills a lot of people with no capital, see if you can get your company to stump up the bond for your property, it could be in the region of $8K depending on your requirements for property.

In order to answer any further questions, there are a few that you need to answer.

What kind of lifestyle would you expect? i.e. living alone in a flat or happy to share, what do you currently expect from your lifestyle? how often do you go out, how much travelling do you want?

Your current salary (if you get relocation) is sufficient to live very well on your own, especially if you share a property with someone or rent a room, the salary here is usually stated on a per month basis, so get used to this, asking for $10K a month (60K GBP PA)is going to see you have a good couple of years and be able to do some travelling and plenty of saving.

Good luck!

[Steve1960]

nutnut has covered the main items very well. Just to add:

The company I work for paid for an advance 4 night trip to Singapore so that I could look around at property for rent and get a feel for the areas within Singapore. They also appointed a property agent to set up appointments in advance of my arrival based on the criteria I set. It was very useful so might be worth exploring that option for yourself.

[Ye]

For tax efficient remuneration package, you should negotiate for:

(1) leave passage - i.e Co pays for your flight to SG (first year) and home (last year)- no Singapore tax. In between, tax is only at 20% of the fare per year. If given to you as allowances, entire sum is taxable.

(2) Relocation cost on reimbursement - no Singapore tax.

(3) Accomodation - HDB or private condo - tax on reduced taxable value, better than housing allowances.

Just a few employment benefits for your consideration to negotiate with your Employer if your Sg tax is not borne by your Company. Singapore is lower than UK, so extra more savings for you! This means extra into your pocket to save in Bank account or spending...)

{Sanitized by moderator}

p/s: you have to relook at your UK tax residency status - must be out of UK for a number of days and not return to UK over 91 days on average per year over the duration etc. Also, you must have a "distinct break" from UK (which is not easy to demonstrate). This helps to avoid UK tax on your worldwide income. Double tax credit is possible. Just something for you to relook.

Hope that this is not too late if it proves to be useful.

[ringo100100]

As far as i'm aware those benefits you mention are taxable and should be added to your tax form a BIK. The company will do this at yeah end. You may not notice them as they get added to a different category on the tax form.

[sterling_archer]

all income is taxable