Living in California...
- Thread starter randomshenans
- Start date
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Just because you (and everyone else) doesn't declare and pay it doesn't mean there isn't a tax there.
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/26/tax-consumer-state-biz-belt-cx_ae_0227beltway.html
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/26/tax-consumer-state-biz-belt-cx_ae_0227beltway.html
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Exactly, thats like saying in the UK if you are self employed you pay no income tax if you don't fill a self assessment in. Technically true but hugely misleading.
It's only the UK that insists on calling the broom cupboard another "bedroom". For example places in Canada seem to regularly be "x" bedrooms and then also have a study/den and or another room rather than just saying two more bedrooms (even if you'll struggle to fit a fill size bed in it...)!
OP, how about Canada? Much like the US and as Fox said some cities are close if you want to pop over (add to the list Vancouver...). More holiday than the US, good, free (basically) healthcare and several of the cities (Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto) are regularly voted top 10 cities in the world (no US cities are). Alberta also has low income tax (30%), low VAT equivelent (5%) and cheap housing. If you look west (Calgary and Vancouver) then you're right next to the Rockies if you like the outdoors...
[TW]Fox;25767363 said:
AFAIK, Sales tax applies Only if the seller has a presence in Virginia, which Amazon for example doesn't.
No one ever pays sales taxes for online purchases. I know they are slowly trying to change that but even then compared with the UK you are paying 0-7% sales tax vs the 20% in the UK.
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I'm not talking about sales tax, I'm talking about consumer use tax, which it seems to state there applies if there is no sales tax which applies to the purchase?
I suspect its something people simply don't bother to report and therefore don't pay tax on but thats hardly an argument in favour is it, 'you can buy things cheap if you don't bother to pay the tax you owe'
The thing that puts me off with moving to America are the Healthcare costs.
The number 1 cause of bankruptcy is Medical Bills , 60% of all bankruptcies were due to medical bills and 78% of them had Insurance.
Nearly 10 million adults with year-round health-insurance coverage will still accumulate medical bills that they can't pay off this year.
And many 10's of millions have to take on more debt to cover the costs of healthcare.
So why it might seem all good at first that your paying abit less in taxes each year. If something was to happen to you or your family there is a very big chance that you could loose it all due to the medical bills. And good luck finding a new job after declaring bankrupt as in america they do credit checks in interviews.
The number 1 cause of bankruptcy is Medical Bills , 60% of all bankruptcies were due to medical bills and 78% of them had Insurance.
Nearly 10 million adults with year-round health-insurance coverage will still accumulate medical bills that they can't pay off this year.
And many 10's of millions have to take on more debt to cover the costs of healthcare.
So why it might seem all good at first that your paying abit less in taxes each year. If something was to happen to you or your family there is a very big chance that you could loose it all due to the medical bills. And good luck finding a new job after declaring bankrupt as in america they do credit checks in interviews.
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[TW]Fox;25767461 said:I'm not talking about sales tax, I'm talking about consumer use tax, which it seems to state there applies if there is no sales tax which applies to the purchase?
I suspect its something people simply don't bother to report and therefore don't pay tax on but thats hardly an argument in favour is it, 'you can buy things cheap if you don't bother to pay the tax you owe'
TBH, that is the first I have ever heard of it and certainly no one else ever seems to know about it, not even our tax guy who files our taxes.
But the argument is irrelevent when such taxes are fraction of the taxes you would pay in the UK, wondering whtehr you pay 0% or 5% when in the UK you would pay 20% is irrelevent to the point being made.
The consumer use tax has always existed, but NO-ONE ever pays it. Even during a sales tax class, that I attended when i first moved out here, (which was needed for my biz back then) the instructor laughed it off. Sales tax on the other hand, they will come down on you for, if you do not pay it ! So yes, when buying a used car privately, its probably just better off putting 'actual' purchase price down, in case its investigated.
I buy 90% of my stuff off Amazon, so hardly ever pay sales tax.. That will apparently end one day, but in the meantime....... shop on !!! lol
I buy 90% of my stuff off Amazon, so hardly ever pay sales tax.. That will apparently end one day, but in the meantime....... shop on !!! lol
Yep. But for us expats, if push came to shove, we could always come back to England, rather than go bankrupt. It is a little wrong to put so much financial worry on someone, if ever they become ill. I've always said, as long as you're healthy, its the better place to be.. If your'e a walking heart attack, don't come out here, they'll clean you out ! Which begons the question, how comes a decent percentage of Americans are fat? Given the financial burden, once it catches up with them... beats the s... outta me !