Help! - Moving to Hong Kong in Nov

[fursze]

Moving to Hong Kong in November. Am in the midst of negotiating a package with my boss. I will not be on an expat package..but he will provide me with housing subsidy. As i fly around relatively often for work, i'm sure i'll get to come back to the home country quite often, so flights not a problem.

As i haven't been working for too long, i don't want to take the piss and ask for the sky. Would be looking at about HKD22,000 - HKD25,000 per month. No family to bring along, no other half kids to look after. Will that be a reasonable amount?

For accommodation, will be looking at a budget of 5K-6K for a studio or 1 bedroom apartment. Office is in Wanchai..so maybe will stay around gloucester, jaffe road area. Are these ok residential areas?

If not, then will be looking at bonham, elgin, soho area or perhaps a flat share. Is the budget realistic for a furnished flat?

what else should i look out for?

if i am paying taxes in my home country as well, will i still need to pay in hong kong? just wondering as accountant has recommended for salary to be split into half.

any suggestions / advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks a lot in advance!!!

[shri]

Really depends where your office is and what sort of commute you can tolerate.

Discovery bay, Cheung Chau, Lamma have a number of places which may be a little bit more spacious and cleaner than Wanchai.

There are some great deals available right now... whole hearted recommend that you take a look at http://www.gohome.com.hk to figure out whats available.

Do keep in mind that the first year's tax in HK will kill you if you don't budget for it, as they take 1 year in arrears and 1 year in advance (so you end up paying two years taxes).

Not sure about which country you pay taxes in.. some countries have double taxation treaties. Best to ask an accountant... or see if you can get through to your countries chambers of commerce in HK (some of them are useful).

[fursze]

office is in the convention building at harbour road.

hmm..would prefer commuting on dry land as my sea legs don't work very well. would probably either bus or mtr it to work depending on where the flat is.

i've been looking at the gohome.com.hk website..but i was also thinking of looking for direct owners but the list is quite limited. Heard that the HK magazine is a good source, is that true?

ah!!! 30% taxes, that will kill me straight out for sure! paying tax in singapore...so will have to check.

[KnowItAll]

At 22K/month, I don't think your tax bracket is 15%.

Do keep in mind that your housing is deductible if you company posts it as a part of your package (salary + housing allowance). (90% of the housing allowance is deductible)

There are also some minimum salary numbers that you need to make to qualify for an employment visa.

Take a look at the tax calculator here ..

http://www.info.gov.hk/ird/eng/ese/ind_stc.htm

(Gave me a javascript error .. might work better for you).

[fursze]

thanks know it all! do you happen to know what's the minimum required for an employment pass there? the office was thinking of a secondment from the singapore office to Hk office.

hmmm....the immigration website doesn't say anything about it.

[shri]

Originally posted by Paul
$3270 provided that you can iron, cook and clean

Paul, Desperately needed that laugh.

[fursze]

thanks for taking the piss paul seriously, besides the minimum wage set for foreign domestic maids, are there any other minimum wage limit set in order to get an employment pass in hong kong.

some countries do set a minimum wage as a criteria for foreigners.