# Tips for moving to Vienna?



## alwaystraveling (Oct 15, 2015)

I am planning to move to Vienna this summer and am trying to narrow down to some neighborhoods so that when I look for homes or hire agent I will know ballpark of where to look. Also trying to understand cost of living (taxes, etc).

- I will have total monthly income of around $4600 after taxes. As far as I know, I won't have to pax taxes on this, since it is not work income in Austria, and consulate told me if I am financially self sufficient then the govt won't come asking for a percent of my income. So I am treating $4600 as my true monthly budget. But then I heard if you are living more 180 days you would pay tax. if so, what would determine my tax payment?

- I will be moving with girlfriend and her 9 year old son. So there is the financial obligation (food, etc). She wants to work (so that in theory would up monthly figure above). She and son are currently learning German via Skype lessons. And related to above, for us to use school system, I imagine one has to pay into the ssytem somehow via taxes or?

- We tend to travel a lot, so we need to have good disposable income, meaning housing costs can't be outrageous... That probably limits to certain regions. I am currently thinking up to 1100 EURO a month, ideally several hundred EURO lower, but am open to ideas. Ideal would be house, but maybe that ges into too expensive range (and limits options). In any case, 2 bedroom house with finished/heated basement would be superb!! Speaking of heating, central heating, modernized/efficient boiler is preferable, as well as fireplace so that we can use wood heating if we want.

- I am guitarist and need studio space. So maybe 3 bedroom place, or two bedroom place basement, or some other variant that allows me good sized studio (meaning not some little 4mx4m cube... Maybe I should place this at top - I absolutely can't compromise on this. I need to make instructional guiar videos and having great studio space is going to be a must have.

- We don't really want to live in one of the overly multinational districts because these days in big cities multinational is becoming an acronym for the lower income parts of the city which like any other city in the world has certain minuses. At same time, I am English/German/Russian speaker so multinational neighborhoods along those lines might be good.

- We prefer to be walking distance to a school, though I am trying to convince my girlfriend that if public transport is as good as I hear, then maybe this isn't so important. But if schools are generally densely scattered then this is non issue. Also we want secular school. Don't want to send kid to catholic school. A school that has Russian kids might be a plus since girlfriend and kid are Russian.

- Nearby greenery would be huge plus since we love going for walks! And quieter the better. I will have need to record acoustic guitar, and if I can live somewhere where I can sit outside and record guitar performances uninterrupted by lots of ambient noise, that would be sooooooo ideal!!

- The closer to west the better, since we will frequently want to head to the alps, Slovenia, Germany. But maybe the difference in time compared among regions is small enough for that to not matter.

- If we are close to relatively inexpensive markets, that would be great! Keeping food costs down will help with my above point about disposable income.

Ok, those are some key points. Would love to hear your opinions! As well as any other tips/advice, especially things like minimizing tax, customs clearance and any other tips to lower moving costs.

Also, I a retired US military and I am hoping Austria will accept my int'l medical insurance and if I marry my girlfriend, also hoping I can get her under my system for not too much. Otherwise I heard living in Austria is about an extra 1000 EURO a month just to get insurance while you wait to get brought into national system.

Thanks!!

Brian


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

A couple of points just off the top of my head:



> - I will have total monthly income of around $4600 after taxes. As far as I know, I won't have to pax taxes on this, since it is not work income in Austria, and consulate told me if I am financially self sufficient then the govt won't come asking for a percent of my income. So I am treating $4600 as my true monthly budget. But then I heard if you are living more 180 days you would pay tax. if so, what would determine my tax payment?


It depends on the source of the income (i.e. pension, investments, some form of remote employment, etc.) and the terms of the tax treaty between Austria and whatever country your income is coming from (US I suppose).



> - I will be moving with girlfriend and her 9 year old son. So there is the financial obligation (food, etc). She wants to work (so that in theory would up monthly figure above). She and son are currently learning German via Skype lessons. And related to above, for us to use school system, I imagine one has to pay into the ssytem somehow via taxes or?


What sort of visa will you be using to move to Austria? Generally speaking, a girlfriend will not be able to tag onto your visa but will need her own. I understand you may not want to disclose additional information here on the forum, but the type of visa you'll be on could be a big factor here. 

Can't help with specific areas or such, but perhaps that information will at least get you started.
Cheers,
Bev


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