# salary as compared to US



## thinkpad

HI,

I am getting an offer to move to abu dhabi, i heard its an expensive place.

I am currently earning 110K in US(bonus included), well taxes are high though, slightly more than 30%, wondering if I move to Abu Dhabi, how much should I negotiate with my new employer?

I am married with no kids
Thanks


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## KentyMac

I was offered basically the same salary in the UAE as I was making in the USA but without having to pay taxes, housing, or utilities. (Talk about a win!) But it really depends on your career, although negotiation is part of the equation, especially if your employer is Arabic.


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## ossie

thinkpad said:


> HI,
> 
> I am getting an offer to move to abu dhabi, i heard its an expensive place.
> 
> I am currently earning 110K in US(bonus included), well taxes are high though, slightly more than 30%, wondering if I move to Abu Dhabi, how much should I negotiate with my new employer?
> 
> I am married with no kids
> Thanks


Hey thinkpad,

Put a bit of thought into a move to the UAE, it's not all that appealing after a while...

Sure....... tax free, living abroad etc etc.... has it's advantages but there's much fakery in the UAE and you'll want to be remunerated appropriately to put up with it all.

My view is if you can't get 50% on top of your current salary, plus a reasonable housing allowance (in excess of 160K AED pa) with utilities, the novelty will soon wear off and you'll be looking to bail out.

Negotiating, if you're in a position to, is the key.

I've been chilling out back home in Australia for the last 4 months negotiating with the firm I was working for during the previous 12mths. I was on a good deal then, and now going back on a better one.......

Good luck 
Cheers
Os


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## KentyMac

ossie said:


> Hey thinkpad,
> Sure....... tax free, living abroad etc etc.... has it's advantages but there's much fakery in the UAE and you'll want to be remunerated appropriately to put up with it all.
> 
> My view is if you can't get 50% on top of your current salary, plus a reasonable housing allowance (in excess of 160K AED pa) with utilities, the novelty will soon wear off and you'll be looking to bail out.


My perspective is that being offered the same salary in the UAE and in the USA works out to about a 60-70% increase in take-home pay. 30-40% taxes plus the housing and utilities saved.

But I agree, ensure you get adequate benefits such as housing, utilities, insurance, annual flights home, moving there and back, end-of-service benefits, etc. If you do then you shouldn't have any regrets. There's also the somewhat intangible benefit for Americans of suddenly having easy access to entire other half of the world. Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, etc are only a few hours away instead of 10-20 hours.


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## Jynxgirl

Would never move to the middle east for the same salary... If they dont make it worth it, tell them to piss off. If you are on a high salary, then it begins to wash out but at that low of a salary, you are still going to feel the pain of everything here being quite expensive. And do not kid yourself about the there is no taxes thing... They 'tax' everything here one way or another. It dings and dings and dings away at the no tax thing. If your wife isnt going to work here, there isnt alot for her to do. Stepford wives club seems to set in. And there are miles and miles of malls for shopping.  

There are not alot of cheap little get aways. Even flying over to Sri Lanka is going to cost you 300$ for a flight. If you stick with the gcc you can do some cheap vacations but as most people, find that all I want to do is get away from the middle east and no go on vacation to another gcc country. Lebanon though has mountains and you can go skiing there. Oman has good diving and is a short flight away (even though would suggest to just drive as having a car is nice in Oman). Going to most places in asia starts to get in the 600 to 800$ range. So those easy to get to places are not like jumping over to AZ or CO or FL weekends trips in the usa. They will easily consume a few thousand for each trip for a couple. 

The Dubai western lifestyle can get quite expensive with the brunches, hotel bars, touristy lifestyle. You can live a more sensible life but you will find yourself saying no to a good deal of activities with other couples. 

No idea what you do but I wouldnt come over here for anything less then 145k usa/530 dirhams or 44k dir a month if you are at 110k in the usa. Get a housing allowance as well, plus the usual medical and flights home. If you think you can/will stay her for any length of time, get the education built in as well as easier to put it in even now with no children then trying to argue for it later. 

Keep in mind, anything over the 90kish irs magic number, you are paying taxes on it to uncle sam.


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## Global Citizen

there is no such thing as 'tax free' for US citizens... as the US has global tax jurisdiction... so while you wont pay directly to the UAE, you will still owe the same taxes you did before to the US... you will get 1-2 extra deductions...as long as you stay out of the US over 330 days per year.. .but if you go home, then there really is no meaningful tax benefit.


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## rickzski

You shouldn't owe the same taxes you did before. You will need to meet the physical presence test initially and then later, the bona fide residence test. After that, you qualify for the foreign income exclusion and your salary is no longer taxed unless you go over $92,900USD / year (double if married filing jointly). There are lots of good Expat tax sites that explain all this.


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