moving to California

[england]

My sister and I have been thinking about moving to california for a while.. WE are hoping to transfer from where we work now to the store out in america.
I was woundering if anyone knew about things like tax etc that we would have to pay, like how much they would take from your wages

Thanx for your help

[joncapp]

if you transfer to California make sure you get what are called L-1 visas

also, its very hard to answer your tax question as it depends on what you make and what deductions you have, that is mortagge payemtna nd other such stuff--its a littelmore complex than i ths uK--however you'll almost certainly pay less tax and there islno VAT over her, although there is a 8 5 sales tax

jon capp



[Message edited by Site Admin - you are welcome to include your URL in your signature, but adding almost 20 URLs is kicking the *rse out of it.]

[sgp]

The L-1 visa is a good one if you qualify for it (see http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/vi ... work2.html for details).

If you do qualify, you should also ask about your company rules for sponsoring you for a green card if you decide you want to stay for good. The downside of an L-1 is that you have to leave the country if your employer decides to fire you, and you can't move companies on an L-1.

If you don't qualify, then you'll probably be looking at an H-visa.

I've only been in CA for a couple of months, but I'm already finding that US tax is a tad complicated. (For example, your State tax contribution is a deductible on your Federal tax). And it does depend very heavily on your personal circumstances. Here are the current taxation rates to give you an idea of your tax burden:

Federal - http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/article/0, ... 56,00.html

State - http://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/05_forms/05_540tt.pdf

But tax isn't everything. Another big deduction is health insurance. And there's a few others as well. Your best way to get an idea of total salary deductions is to find someone in the US store you want to move to and ask them what their deductions are.

Remember as well that (except for housing in some areas) the cost of living is much cheaper in the US than in the UK, so don't simply translate your disposable income back to GBP to decide if you can live on your net salary. You need to work up a budget to include everything fom accommodation and motoring costs to grocery and electricity bills.


Cheers,

Stephen

[sgp]

Good grief - I didn't notice I was answering 3 year old questions. Now I'm all embarrassed.

[cheekynick]

Dont worry, I was reading this post and found your replies very useful.

Also if you do happen to read this I am planning to emigrate out to California possibly SF very soon so any help you could give me would be extremely well received.

[sgp]

Thanks Cheekynick,

FWIW I've been keeping a blog of my experiences at [Advert removed]. The rest is mostly personal entries for the benefit of my friends back in Blighty, so won't be of much interest.

If you have any particular questions, you're welcome to post them here or [advert removed]. I'll answer if I can - although I don't claim to be any kind of expert.

[cheekynick.]

thanks a lot stephen. Unfortunately the info you put up got taken down which seems quite annoying. Nevertheless I just clicked on your website button beneath your name and found it that way instead.
I thought it was a great blog....it was so funny to read. It was really good info too. Its full of all the stuff that my american friends i met at uni earlier this year take for granted eg. I thought JC Penney made wine until i realised it was a type of debenhams.

Also the driving license stuff, the housing and tax stuff is all important things which i am trying to sort out.

I think reading your blog has been the single most useful thing i have read since my long quest to gather info about cali began. The only trouble i had was that the webpage ran extremely slowly (to the point of crashing) perhaps due to the amount of text im not sure...but maybe you could have a look.

Thanks again
nick

[Kay]

Unfortunately the info you put up got taken down which seems quite annoying.

If you read our posting guidelines you'll see that we don't allow people to join up and straight away post links to their own sites. If we allowed this, we would be over-run with adverts.

There is nothing whatsoever stopping Stephen putting a link to his blog in his signature.

Our rules are there for the benefit of our regulars - they like it this way and have often said so. If you find them too annoying, you are free to go elsewhere. We won't be changing how we run things just to suit you.

[cheekynick.]

OK, keep your hair on. This is an internet chat forum, I didnt realise the rules had to be so strictly enforced, but I have taken your point and wont mention it again

[moulangi]

Thank you for this post. sgp I also found your blog helpful. I am from the Wirral and have spent 2 years on the Costa del Sol. I have good Spanish. I worked in a Private hospital on reception for general admissions and emergencies but am also a Reiki practitioner (holistic healing technique) and artistic. I moved here alone and had the dream of settling here and buying a property. Its not worked out and following going to the World Vegetarian Congress in Goa a few weeks ago and representing Spain, I realise that I might have better chances of finding the things I want in the US (not necessarily buying a house but meeting like minded people, vegetarians and getting more Spanish speaking work).

I have begun selling everything but have not much idea about getting jobs, visas, cost of shipping stuff over there, what electrical equipment (like computer and printer) will work there and indeed where I really want to live. I have 2 months left here and then I might go over on holiday and rent a car and see where feels right.

Do you have any feedback on any of the above questions or sites that might help?
The wildlife you mention sounds beautiful.

Thanks for your time and comments.
Clare

[cheekynick.]

Hey Clare.

sorry for the delay in replying. I am quite anxious/worried about you selling all your belongings before researching the visa issues about living in the US. The US is in my opinion and from what i have heard one of the hardest places in the world to move to.

With regards to helping you with questions, i would like to help but im not quite sure what the questions are you want answers to!?

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