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tax free income in Europe

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:34 pm
by Guadalajara
Does anyone know which countries in Europe don't require U.S. citizens to pay income tax (atleast for the first few years)? Even though the U.S. has tax treaties with many European countries, this doesn't always translate into tax-free salaries for U.S. citizens. Given the cost of living in Western Europe and a 40-60% tax rate, this information will greatly influence our decision about which countries to pursue. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom...

Taxes in Europe

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:55 pm
by augustus
You'll pay taxes if you work in Spain. Your teaching contract starts in August or September, so you wont start to pay taxes until January. We paid about 30% in taxes after that. The school told us we would get a big refund when we filed our taxes but that turned out not to be true. We ended up owing 90 euros last year.

Hope that helps….

-Gus

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:44 am
by SimpleTwistofFate
The first 2 years in Germany are tax free. After that it gets murky. It used to be that if you stayed past the 2 years not only do you have to start paying taxes, you would have to pay BACK taxes from your initial 2 years. We were told that the BACK taxes no longer have to be paid, but that is now being challenged. Regardless, the first 2 years are tax free.

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:08 pm
by Crgallen22
No taxes in Russia.

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:17 pm
by calciodirigore
I worked for two years in Germany recently and paid taxes. The law states that teachers (visiting scholars) can attempt to claim back their taxes after leaving Germany and the EU after the initial two year contract. US citizens must return to the US and then present quite a bit of supporting documentation to get the taxes back (proof of abode in the US, property taxes...). Then taxes must be paid in the US on that refund.

I did not get my money back since I was not returning to the US and did not own property or pay taxes there. I know quite a few people who have gotten their refund.