Job Discussion Forums

[hiptoclip]

Hi everyone. I'm an American citizen who's working in China as a teacher. I make the equivalent of $ 4,000 U.S. dollars a year, as a teacher here. I have been here for the entire 2007 tax year. This is my sole income, so do I need to file a tax return ??? I am a single person. Any help in this matter would be great. I am sure this is asked in this forum every year, but I do not know the answer. Thank you.

[tw]

$4,000 USD = 28,000 RMB a year (roughly) = 2,333 RMB a month. Are you sure you didn't mean $4,000 USD a MONTH?

[hiptoclip]

I make 4,000 rmb a month which as of today equals $ 571.00 U.S. dollars a month. I work at a university. When you have a 1 year contract, its really 8 months of work, with about 4 months off. 2 months off at the end of each semester. I get travel allowance of $ 1,100 rmb which equals to $ 157.00 U.S. dollars. Thats all the money I have made in the 2007 tax year.

[hiptoclip]

So I have made about $ 4,725.00 U.S. Dollars for the 2007 tax year as a teacher here in China. Do I need to file taxes ? This is my sole income.

[lf_aristotle69]

Quick answer. For you on that income, no tax needs to be paid.

Long answer. In full time work the monthly tax free threshold for foreigners is 4800rmb/month. If you earn less than that you don't have to pay any income tax. Usually income tax is P.A.Y.E. = Pay as you earn. If you were to earn 5000rmb/month or 6000, etc... you would actually only have to pay quite a small amount of tax, which your boss should deduct and pay on your behalf. You should then receive tax receipts from your boss which are technically needed to convert currency.

If you are interested in finding out more you can do a search here on the topic of 'tax' to find what other posters have said in past discussions on related topics.

ymmv had a really good post about a year ago.

LFA

[arcueil_1]

That's well below the amount of yearly income you need to file. You don't have to. However, it's always a good idea to file anyway. For example, if you were to marry someone in the future and then you want to move back to the US with that person, one of the many requirements to be able to do that is that you need to have three consecutive income tax returns (the last three). It's just an a example, but my point is that you should file if possible. If not, then don't sweat it.

[tw]

[lf_aristotle69]

Yeah, 8 months seems short. Is it a public/government university?

The only way I can see that working is if you start in October (after the National Day holiday week) because you're primarily teaching first year students who start late after military training at the beginning of their first/freshman year.

BUT, including the winter holiday, which SHOULD be paid vacation, if it's mid-contract, that should add up to nine months to the end of June. BTW, travel allowance (2000 or 2200rmb(?)) should be additional for a one year (i.e. teaching 2 semesters) contract.

0 Sep, 1 Oct, 2 Nov, 3 Dec, 4 Jan, 5 Feb, 6 Mar, 7 Apr, 8 May, 9 Jun

Yes, in case you don't relise it, you're right at the very bottom of the full time work pay scale in China.

How many class hours (usually it's 45 mins for a university class hour) do you do a week? I hope you say just 16 or 18... Contracts are usually written in terms of class hours or classes. So, if the contract says you must teach 18 class hours a week, then technically you'll just be teaching 13.5 real hours spread out over the 18 classes. Quite often classes are doubled up so you'll teach 9 x 1.5 hours classes a week. Sorry if all that's superfluous to the OP, but he's seems like he doesn't know his proper/entitled conditions. I hope he's not getting ripped off.

LFA

[patsy]

In certain areas, like qinghai , winter and summer vacation is not paid and the university salary is around 2,500 rmb.

[carken]

If you file, you'll be eligible for the income tax rebate that's coming out over the summer and fall. You'd probably get about $300,

[China.Pete]

Some of the respondents may be confusing US and Chinese taxation. The OP's question, I believe, pertains to US taxation. You can check the IRS website for information on whether you need to file a return or not. Given the amount of the OP's income, it is unlikely that he/she would end up owing anything (ditto, by the way, for Chinese taxes). In addition, if you have been resident in China for the entire year, or even most of it, you can exempt approximately $86,000 in income. The pertinent IRS forms are 1040 and 2555, and these can be downloaded in PDF format. As others have noted, there are certain circumstances in which you could be asked to supply prior years' tax returns, so you may wish to file a return even if not actually required to do so.

[hiptoclip]

Thanks everyone for the reply. One more question. What about state tax. I was in China for the entire 2007 tax year, so do I need to file state tax, even though I was in China the whole tax year ?

[China.Pete]

In general, you need to file a state income tax return if you had income for work done in that state above a stipulated amount (or income from property, lottery winnings, etc.). I have not researched the exact amounts for all fifty states, but I seriously doubt the OP's in-state income, presumably nil, would meet any of them (I think you'll find most states track the federal mimimum income filing requirements--$8,750 for most single filers in the current tax year).

[arcueil_1]

I was referring to US taxation... just in case there is confusion.