Taxes paid to China or USA?

[griz326]

I am hoping to work in China in about a year.

Are income taxes paid to China or to the USA...or God forbid...both?

I've read a number of other threads that give me the impression that about 30% goes to taxes to China, but none of the other threads I read attacked the question head-on.

TIA,

Griz

[griz326]

From what I've read, having an expert status visa is beneficial. I actually have several areas in which I might be considered expert. Is it absolutely necessary that the expert criteria and the job must be linked to get the visa?

Are there any "tricks of the trade" in gaining an expert visa? How much of a stretch (not of the truth - but of applicability) can be made?

For instance, expert level network analysis doesn't apply to teaching English. Or does it? That's a nearly comical stretch ;) ... but I would certainly like to capitalize on one of my skills to gain that status if it is at all possible.

[griz326]

I thread-jacked my own thread....

Well I'm hoping we can kill two birds with a single stone.

Thanks...

[imron]

For instance, expert level network analysis doesn't apply to teaching English. Or does it?

Nope, but being a native English speaker qualifies you as an "expert" in that regard. Actually IMO the whole "expert status" thing is a bit of a joke, and really all it's used for nowadays is for letting you convert a certain percentage of your salary into foreign currency.

As for taxes, I never paid any taxes when I was teaching in China (don't know what the situation is for other professions), and, being Australian I didn't have to pay tax on income earned overseas. We just got paid a big wad of cash every month, which I safely deposited in my desk drawer, and that was that.

At different times I asked the school about taxes and got differing responses. Some people said the tax was already paid by the school, others said that we weren't earning enough to be taxed (and this is earning 4x the average wage of a Chinese teacher).

[imron]

BTW, if you are coming to teach English, and you come in on a Z visa, you'll automatically be getting "expert status" without you needing to do anything (the school will sort of all the necessary stuff out).

[griz326]

Thank you....

[pandaxiongmao]

If you are a US citizen, but outside the US for more than 335 days in a calendar year, you are not considered a resident, and thus do not have to pay income tax on anything you earn (up to something like $72,000). Your home state might still want income taxes though, so in that case having residency in a place with no state/local income tax (like Texas) would be beneficial.

If you plan to be outside the USA for more than 335 days, but arrive in China sometime in the middle of the year, I think you can apply for an extension on your income taxes to show that you are outside the USA for the appropriate amount of time.

In any case, you still have to report to the IRS you don't have any US income.

[Shadowdh]

I met a US girl married to a UK guy in the UK and even though they had been living here for some time and were not going to go back to the US she still had to pay tax... but I dont think it was income tax rather it was something else... I thought it odd at the time... *shrug*

[amo]

I do not know abou US law. But I checked with Norwegian rules and regulations before moving to China.

Their answer:

If you stay 183 days or more, you pay tax to China, if you stay less than 183 days you pay tax to Norway, but EVEN if I pay tax to China they can still tell me to pay the difference (Chinese tax is lower) to Norway, but this will be based on the numbers I report and nothing else, since they will not ask for any documents from China.

Stupid rules, but then again, thats Norway. I asked them: If I pay to little tax in China, then I have to pay to Norwy also, but what if I pay to much tax in China, will Norway refund me LOL (no answer on that one)