# From England to New York



## tjobbe (Jan 10, 2013)

Hi everyone,

I've never been to the uSA in my life, and yesterday was offered a job in Manhattan, which I accepted. I start in roughly 2 months, or less.

I'd like to know what kind of mandatory taxes / insurance I must expect to pay?

For instance, how much will my salary get reduced by each month and what other costs should I keep in consideration?

I've never done anything like this before, so any advice would be welcomed!

Thanks,

Tjobbe


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## Pinkjellybean (Aug 5, 2011)

I am assuming you are a USC or somehow already have a work visa?! Otherwise I doubt you will be going to NY in 2 months.


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

getting offered a job and getting a visa ..are two seperate items

the employer has to get your visa ..if its an H1B then they can apply April1st 
and you start in Oct ..

Have they given you any more information?
what type of work is it ?


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## tjobbe (Jan 10, 2013)

I have no idea about the visa - none at all. 

I'm a website designer. The company who hired me want me over there pretty quickly - they already have an office over there so I would imagine they know what they are doing when they say they want me to start asap?

Is there such a thing as an accurate take-home salary calculator online?

Thanks for your replies


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

tjobbe said:


> I have no idea about the visa - none at all.
> 
> I'm a website designer. The company who hired me want me over there pretty quickly - they already have an office over there so I would imagine they know what they are doing when they say they want me to start asap?
> 
> ...


Slow down! Just because a company wants to hire you does not mean they know anything about US immigration. For your own peace of mind - find out what visa they plan to use. It may save you a lot of headaches. Davis1 gave you the only logic scenario. Good luck!

Set your browser on English and search "salary calculator".


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Be very careful because there are some outright scams out there, as well as some employers in the US who have not a clue about hiring foreigners, and who make promises they find they can't possibly keep. 

Before you worry about your tax obligations, you need to find out what this new employer is doing (or not doing) about a visa. They may be expecting you to come up with a "work visa" on your own, which simply isn't going to happen.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Pinkjellybean (Aug 5, 2011)

tjobbe said:


> I have no idea about the visa - none at all.
> 
> I'm a website designer. The company who hired me want me over there pretty quickly - they already have an office over there so I would imagine they know what they are doing when they say they want me to start asap?
> 
> ...


The company obviously have no idea about immigration if they have assumed that you will be able to start within a couple of months. For a web designer you will need an H1B, the earliest start will be Oct 1st.


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## tjobbe (Jan 10, 2013)

Thanks everyone for the advice - let's leave the visa thing out as I don't start my job in London until Tuesday and I'm sure they'll fill me in with all the relevant information then ;o)

Can anyone tell me how much I would take home based on $44k a year? I have no idea what all the extra fields on the paycheck city calculator mean - Things like fedral allowances, federal witholding, round federal witholding, state witholding, additional witholding - yonkers, total allowances are all greek to me!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

tjobbe said:


> Thanks everyone for the advice - let's leave the visa thing out as I don't start my job in London until Tuesday and I'm sure they'll fill me in with all the relevant information then ;o)
> 
> Can anyone tell me how much I would take home based on $44k a year? I have no idea what all the extra fields on the paycheck city calculator mean - Things like fedral allowances, federal witholding, round federal witholding, state witholding, additional witholding - yonkers, total allowances are all greek to me!


Time to work on ideas:>) Give or take 25 to 50%. You are kidding about 44k for an expat contract, are you not? 
Please keep us posted on the visa as that may be of interest for quite a few poster. Thank you.


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## tjobbe (Jan 10, 2013)

twostep said:


> Time to work on ideas:>) Give or take 25 to 50%. You are kidding about 44k for an expat contract, are you not?
> Please keep us posted on the visa as that may be of interest for quite a few poster. Thank you.


Why would I be kidding?


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## Pinkjellybean (Aug 5, 2011)

tjobbe said:


> Why would I be kidding?


The average salary for a web designer in New York is circa $100K, I doubt the job would qualify for an H1B with such a low salary.

I also doubt you would be able to live on 44K in NY unless you like roughing it. NY is a lot more expensive than London (this is coming from someone who has lived in both).


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## tjobbe (Jan 10, 2013)

Pinkjellybean said:


> The average salary for a web designer in New York is circa $100K, I doubt the job would qualify for an H1B with such a low salary.
> 
> I also doubt you would be able to live on 44K in NY unless you like roughing it. NY is a lot more expensive than London (this is coming from someone who has lived in both).


I should add that I'm a single guy and happy to share a house with other flat mates within a commutable distance of manhattan.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Your withholding (i.e. how much they take out of your paycheck for taxes, insurance and other benefits) depends on where you're living - especially if you'll be in the NYC area. $44K a year is rather, um, "light" if the job is in Manhattan and especially if you're planning on living in NYC. 

NYC has a city income tax, plus there is a state income tax for NY. If you live outside NYC, you'll probably have the state income tax (certainly for NJ, and I think for Connecticut) plus commuting costs, which can be substantial. If you live in one state and work in another, you may well wind up filing tax returns for both states, and you'll have to learn how the offsets work.

How much you'll take home is also affected by various company policies - primarily how the employer handles health insurance (how much does the employee contribute?) and retirement plans (most retirement plans in the US these days are tax deferred plans, which means you don't pay income tax on whatever you contribute to the plan - however you get to choose how much to contribute).

As you can see, there is no easy answer to "how much will I take home?"
Cheers,
Bev


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## tjobbe (Jan 10, 2013)

I'm getting worried now, so it looks like I could be taken for a ride on the salary? I was assured this was the average salary for someone of my ilk, in nyc.


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## Pinkjellybean (Aug 5, 2011)

tjobbe said:


> I should add that I'm a single guy and happy to share a house with other flat mates within a commutable distance of manhattan.


My quote was coming from someone who did that on more than double 44K.

A room in an appt block, with shared bathroom and kitchen (usually not usable) will cost over $1K and you may also have seen them on episodes of CSI  A room in a house in a commutable area (will still be a ****ty area but not have the obvious drug dealers and hookers on each corner) will cost a bit more. A studio appt will cost $2K+.


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## Pinkjellybean (Aug 5, 2011)

tjobbe said:


> I'm getting worried now, so it looks like I could be taken for a ride on the salary? I was assured this was the average salary for someone of my ilk, in nyc.


I suspect that is highly likely  They were probably trying to tempt you by the idea of working/living in NY.


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## tjobbe (Jan 10, 2013)

Pinkjellybean said:


> I suspect that is highly likely  They were probably trying to tempt you by the idea of working/living in NY.


I shall ask them for evidence that I can live well on that salary, as I've just looked around and found the salaries you mentioned, I"m a bit annoyed now!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

tjobbe said:


> I'm getting worried now, so it looks like I could be taken for a ride on the salary? I was assured this was the average salary for someone of my ilk, in nyc.


I do not know what your actual skill set is. What do you base the "assurance" on?


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## tjobbe (Jan 10, 2013)

On what I was told by the employer.

I have a decent skillset, and a London equivalent would be £30 / £40k. This salary is £27.5k but I was happy to go with that due to the fact it's in New York - and I know I can survive on that 27.5 in London. I find it strange that the salary in New York would be DOUBLE what I would earn in London, when London is a more expensive city to live in according to recent figures?


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

OK lets get to the chase. Your UK lingo is hard for me to figure out.

You do not give any information about your experience, education or visa. You have not been with the company in a position to transfer so unless you have the requisite education (degree or equivalent experience or proven out of the ordinary skills) - no visa. 

Wherever you get your numbers from - they have neither lived nor eaten in NY. 

Someone is puling your leg big time. Not to mention - where is the expat contract? Who pays for flights, medical coverage, returns, visa, drivers license, setting up household (deposits!), transportation, exchange difference ...? 

As I asked you before - research what you need to be able to work there legally (nothing like a 10 year ban) and take it from there. One step at a time.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Don't know what kind of company has recruited you, but there are plenty of small businesses out there with good intentions, but no understanding of immigration law or procedures. Does the company actually have a Manhattan office - or are they just looking to establish one? Are you going to be their first international transfer? (It definitely sounds like it.)

The minimum the company owes you is the legal backing to apply for an appropriate visa, plus some level of support involving the transfer, including moving costs, housing support (at least for the first few months until you find a more permanent place to live), possibly tax support (at least for the first year or so) and certainly information about the employee benefits (health insurance, retirement plans, etc.) at their US site. I would also hold out for some sort of transfer "back up" provision - if the job in the US doesn't work out for any reason in the first year, the company should pay to move you back to the UK. You really don't want to be stuck in the US without enough to get yourself back home and on a visa that expires when the job does.
Cheers,
Bev


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## tjobbe (Jan 10, 2013)

I was told that my salary was an average one by the employer, but having done my own homework I can see that this really isn't the case. I'm not going to work somewhere and earn 40% of what I should.

The company do already have an office in Manhattan, staffed by at least 7 people, with at least one of them being from the UK - which makes me believe that maybe they know what they are doing? I can't believe that they wouldn't at least research visas before hiring someone, but if that is the case, then I should obviously tread carefully!

I have just asked the recruiters to go back to the company and quiz them on how the employer could think that this is an average rate. If they can come back and tell me the rest of their similarly skilled staff earn this amount and are able to live comfortably then maybe it is, but I doubt it.

I can't help but thinking this is a way of getting cheap labour - promises of bright lights etc. I'm a little bit worried.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

tjobbe said:


> I can't help but thinking this is a way of getting cheap labour - promises of bright lights etc. I'm a little bit worried.


You may have cracked it with that statement. One reason the high tech companies in the US are so keen on the H1B program is that they can hire foreign programmers and other tech people much more cheaply than hiring similarly skilled US tech workers - particularly the older, more experienced workers who have have worked their ways up the ladder (but are still unemployed precisely because of their higher price).

It will be interesting to see what the recruiters come back with.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

How Do I questions


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

Pinkjellybean said:


> The average salary for a web designer in New York is circa $100K, I doubt the job would qualify for an H1B with such a low salary.
> 
> I also doubt you would be able to live on 44K in NY unless you like roughing it. NY is a lot more expensive than London (this is coming from someone who has lived in both).


The web developing field is overly saturated and there are many people in that field who are out of work. I would say web developer is probably a 60K job in NYC. 100K salaries are usually offered to people who have expertise in a more narrowed down, hard to find field like PHP in finance, or C++ in medical systems as two example.

But I do agree that it is strange that the OP was offered a position from overseas for that amount of money. It makes me wonder if the company knows what the citizenship status of the applicant is.


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## hutais (Jul 2, 2010)

Wow we are in Manhattan and my Husband is a Software Engineer( very specialized and quite senior). That salary is very low and impossible to live on in Manhattan. Also please take into account you will need Medical insurance. The Health system is nothing like the UK or Australia. 

I know there are a few scams going around too so be careful.


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## jsharbuck (Jul 26, 2012)

Sounds like indentured servant status to me. As a former recruiter, I can assure you that who ever you are dealing with is NOT reputable
The ethical job of a recruiter is to assure that he/she provides her client 
with the best candidate but also to ensure that the salary and compensation is in line with industry standards. I turned down job assignments because a client tried to take advantage of a candidates desire to live somewhere.
Even a single guy sharing a flat CANNOT live at anything other than poverty level in NYC. Greed is alive and well in America. I would not be surprised that your employer has a contract for industry $$ standards and is pocketing the difference.


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