Income tax question

[usa-69z]

HEy Guys , im an aussie looking at relocating to the US sometime in the next year ... my question is -how much income tax do you pay , say in cali ? Ive done a a little job research and noticed your hourly wage rate is somewhat lower than ours ... an average wage here would be around $15 - $20 an hour and up' in Oz. House prices around $260k -$350k aprox range (middleclass)
rentals are around $200 to $350 a week ...(all east coast aprox)..
curious about how things compare.

thanx,

Gav

[JLM]

HEy Guys , im an aussie looking at relocating to the US sometime in the next year ... my question is -how much income tax do you pay , say in cali ? Ive done a a little job research and noticed your hourly wage rate is somewhat lower than ours ... an average wage here would be around $15 - $20 an hour and up' in Oz. House prices around $260k -$350k aprox range (middleclass)
rentals are around $200 to $350 a week ...(all east coast aprox)..
curious about how things compare.

thanx,

Gav

Income tax will primarily be based on how much you make rather than where you live.

It's really hard to be able to estimate it properly as well because of the multitude of deductions that can be thrown in the mix. Figure probably around 25% as a good starting point though.

[hifi875]

move to a state w/no state income tax, such as texas,florida, tennessee. they have higher sales taxes. anywhere you move in us you will pay less taxes than you probably do in australia, but w our president and his policies we will end w tax rates like they have in europe. over 50%.

[JLM]

move to a state w/no state income tax, such as texas,florida, tennessee. they have higher sales taxes. anywhere you move in us you will pay less taxes than you probably do in australia, but w our president and his policies we will end w tax rates like they have in europe. over 50%.

And...all inherently illegal. Amendment 16 didn't allow for the creation of new taxes. A fact the supreme court has upheld on several occasions.

Yet, the income tax has been allowed regardless.

...he who has the gold, makes the rules.

[68sixspeed]

Rule of thumb, you should expect to see around 25% of your wage taken out between federal income tax, medicare tax, social security tax, and state income tax depending on the state. If you have kids the deductions can help reduce that, if you make more the % gets worse, make less it gets better.

Most states have a sales tax of 5-7%, some less, some worse. This is on most purchases except homes. (but yes on cars, normal shopping items etc.)

[Chad-1stGen]

Where specifically are you considering relocating to? I wouldn't focus to much on stage averages for info. States such as California have very high cost of living areas and lower cost of living areas so average cost of living or average home prices state wide for California is meaningless IMO.

[Roadbuster]

HEy Guys , im an aussie looking at relocating to the US sometime in the next year ... my question is -how much income tax do you pay , say in cali ? Ive done a a little job research and noticed your hourly wage rate is somewhat lower than ours ... an average wage here would be around $15 - $20 an hour and up' in Oz. House prices around $260k -$350k aprox range (middleclass)
rentals are around $200 to $350 a week ...(all east coast aprox)..
curious about how things compare.

thanx,

Gav

Something else to consider. Are you going to be an expat? or are you immigrating? Big difference.

Consider this: if you own a business down under and you immigrate and become a US citizen. That income from that business is now taxable under the IRS even though it is not located in the US.

As an expat you would need to check with your laws but for US expat they get a credit for local income taxes paid. Could be the same for you.

Jon

[Pro Stock]

Gav,

I see that you are a tatoo artist, tatoos are big in the U.S. right now so you should be able to make a living. Generally in order to have a life over here (hot rods time off family ect.) you need to earn about $75,000 a year. In order to make enough $ to survive you will have to live in one of the larger cities so that you will be able to ply your trade, that means that the cost of living will be fairly high. California, New York, New Jersey ect. are the most expensive areas of the country to live in, I have lived in California, Ohio and North Carolina, I like NC the best, it has a moderate climate, high standard of living, ZMax Dragway, Lowes Motor Speedway, Detroit Speed Engineering, lots of Pro Touring and Race City USA (Mooresville) and it seems like everybody has or is going to get a tatoo. It also has very reasonable housing cost, you can get a nice place for $180,000 to $300,000, I live in a $200,000 Condo on Lake Norman thirty minutes from Charlotte. I also still own my home in Ohio and like it there also but it's COLD in the winter !!! I've named a lot of states and cities in this post so that you can Google the information.




Good luck, Dale

[usa-69z]

thanx guys for the input .....Dale ive spotted a tattoo position in the portland/oregon area for a feb start , i havnt been up that way but will be there in feb for a visit ...I am also very experienced in healthcare , working in hospital operating theatres in Oz for many years..The wife is in disability care with kids here...We are just weighing up our options as we visit the US west coast for holidays but we come home every year and talk about living there... I dont really understand the 'expat' or imigrate difference? I do see a greencard can take a long time to organize.

Thanks, Gav

[mc84_zz4]

One more thing about taxes, states with an income tax are around the 3-6% off you Net income, but comparatively, in TX there is no income tax, but property taxes are much higher (rentals reflect that too).
I traded a 2K yearly income tax, for about the same 2K increase in property taxes by moving from Colorado to Texas.
No surprise it was coming, but we were able to get a nicer house by comparison, same budget.
If I chose to drive more, I could move further away from the city limits and pay less taxes. Many friends sold their houses and built newer, larger homes trading the tax for more assets, but they did not need to worry about kids in school.
Just more to consider.

[96Z28SS]

thanx guys for the input .....Dale ive spotted a tattoo position in the portland/oregon area for a feb start , i havnt been up that way but will be there in feb for a visit ...I am also very experienced in healthcare , working in hospital operating theatres in Oz for many years..The wife is in disability care with kids here...We are just weighing up our options as we visit the US west coast for holidays but we come home every year and talk about living there... I dont really understand the 'expat' or imigrate difference? I do see a greencard can take a long time to organize.

Thanks, Gav

Well Oregon is a no sales tax state, but property tazes are a bit high is you live in the multnomah county. Anywhere outside the property tax gets lower

[camcojb]

you better like rain if you're going to the Portland area................... no way I could live there for that reason alone.

Jody

[Pro Stock]

you better like rain if you're going to the Portland area................... no way I could live there for that reason alone.

Jody

Oregon is also cold in the winter time, it is also very liberal politically which could end up having an impact on your hot rodding. I've never lived in Florida but have visited many times, they have no state income tax and the housing cost are very low right now, if you can stand heat and humidity it might be the place for you other than it is full of retired people which might make the tatoo business a little slow.

Dale

[HarleyR]

Las Vegas..... No state Tax.. Affordable living... a million Tattoo shops... Close to LA... plenty of car hobby options....The summers arent that bad..... if you have good. I spent alomst 10 years there and loved every second of it.....Now I live In Hillbilly hell...aka North Carolina

[southernfriedcj]

You should consider that unemployment is over 10% in the U.S.
It may not be the best time to come over here looking for a couple jobs (for y'all or us).
Now if you are flush with cash, come on over and buy a house, a new GM car and eat in a restaurant every night.

[96Z28SS]

you better like rain if you're going to the Portland area................... no way I could live there for that reason alone.

Jody

Its Doesn't rain as much as everyone thinks. Its not Seattle.
They biggest problem is the gray sky all winter. It would be nice to have clear blue sky. Usually get a week of real cold the rest of the winter is in the mid 40's.

[usa-69z]

i do want to stay west coast ...portland was mentioned as there is a job there now that i could take....i do really like pomona/aneheim/orange county area for the car stuff and events... but i havnt scoped work opertunitys as yet...im finding wages are low and living costs are high.... realizing where i am is pretty good now... maybe stick to our once a year vacation there..