

Ask HN: How can a US citizen get work abroad at a startup? - martian

As a US citizen, I know a little bit about obtaining visas for foreign nationals coming to work in the US. I don't know, however, how an American could work abroad.<p>- For engineers who are US citizens, where are the best places to work abroad?<p>- What kind of regulation and/or tax issues might an American expect?<p>- Has anyone done this, have good or bad experiences working abroad?
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refurb
I can speak to the 2nd question. The one thing that Americans really get
shafted on is "global income". The IRS doesn't care if you don't live in the
US anymore, they still want to see a tax return.

When I left Canada a number of years ago, I simply filed a tax return that
said I left. I haven't filed one since.

Not so if you're an American. You need to keep filing each year. The good news
is that the US has tax treaties with most developed countries, so as long as
you're paying as much tax as you would if you were working in the US, you
won't have to send a check to the IRS. For example, if the tax rate in your
new country is 40% and you would be in the 35% bracket in the US, you will owe
no US taxes.

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byoung2
_Not so if you're an American. You need to keep filing each year. The good
news is that the US has tax treaties with most developed countries, so as long
as you're paying as much tax as you would if you were working in the US, you
won't have to send a check to the IRS. For example, if the tax rate in your
new country is 40% and you would be in the 35% bracket in the US, you will owe
no US taxes._

The IRS website suggests that there doesn't need to be a tax treaty if you
live in another country for a full tax year. Even if I live in a tax free
country for a full tax year or 330 days out of any 12 consecutive months, the
first $90k+ are tax free. I think that is reasonable, given all that being an
American citizen or resident will benefit me even while abroad (embassies,
defense, etc).

[http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,...](http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=96817,00.html)

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mrkmcknz
I'll swap you my UK passport for your US one :)

