# What are Costs for Expat in Houston



## english gent (Sep 3, 2009)

Hi All
I have opportunity to spend time working in Houston but require to know how much it will cost to live there
Would need Health Care Insurance, Private/Personal Insurance, Car Hire, Hotel/Apartment Costs - Daily Living - meals etc, Flights, Health Club,Banking etc In fact just about everything you can think of. These are for a mature male on single status who would just want to live and work to a good standard
Would be very interested in any info regards employment /contract methods for a Uk Service Co. ( one man and a dog) to get a tax efficient payment arrangement
Thanks to all who show an interest


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

It depends on the company and the type of work you'd be doing, but generally health insurance is one of the benefits of a job in the US - and if the company is bringing you over to the US, they may well provide a car (usually leased), though you will have to keep records to separate personal and business use and pay the costs of your personal use yourself.

Be aware, too, that employment contracts aren't the norm in the US. You may only receive an offer letter outlining the terms of your employment (including any "special" expat perks), possibly with a reference to the in-house employee manual for the various benefits and policies that affect all employees in that company or office.

Obviously, all perks (except, for the moment, the health insurance) are added to your taxable income. If you're on an expat package, they may do some sort of "gross up" to reduce your effective tax rate to roughly what you'd be paying back home - and if they do, they'll throw in tax preparation services. If you're on the local payroll, you're pretty much on your own when it comes to taxes.

It's a bit difficult to give more specific advice without knowing how long your stay in Houston might be, what sort of visa, etc. That can affect what sorts of living accommodation and all you'd be looking at (though if you're bringing your dog, I suspect you're planning for the long term).
Cheers,
Bev


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## english gent (Sep 3, 2009)

Bevdeforges said:


> It depends on the company and the type of work you'd be doing, but generally health insurance is one of the benefits of a job in the US - and if the company is bringing you over to the US, they may well provide a car (usually leased), though you will have to keep records to separate personal and business use and pay the costs of your personal use yourself.
> 
> Be aware, too, that employment contracts aren't the norm in the US. You may only receive an offer letter outlining the terms of your employment (including any "special" expat perks), possibly with a reference to the in-house employee manual for the various benefits and policies that affect all employees in that company or office.
> 
> ...


Bev A good start thankyou - will try and explain ?

Ì a have a Uk registered limited liability company that I have used to trade with over many years in the UK ( My description one man and dog describes the shareholdng and responsibility regard the company. To have such a company you have to have in law two directors - Me the owner and principle effectively does eveything and has 99% of the shares - The dog is the other director in name only (and has a 1% shareholding only)
It is only me that would be coming and for a notional period of 12 months.

There are tax advantages in working like this as the company pays a flat rate of 22% on its earnings and once paid they can be withdrawn and paid to me as dividends without a further tax charge. I do have to keep such dividends and earnings beneath a ceiling of 40K GBP as if this is exceeded a higer rate of tax at 40% kicks in. If i was a regular employee then i would automatcally have this tax burden against all earnings
The taxation people are looking for ways to demonstrate you are an employee and fring benifits is an area looked at very carefully. For these reasons it is better to recieve all the above as extra salary and then be seen to provide them myself . This is why am trying to get costs
Thankyou for any additional help and to anyone else who shows interest


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## Fatbrit (May 8, 2008)

Gawd knows how the hell you intend to secure suitable immigration status for your Houston venture -- and I'm not even asking! Dodging Uncle Sam is usually reserved for citizens, rich and influential citizens at that.


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