Job Discussion Forums

[Qaaolchoura]

So there will be one, possibly two periods, where I will be living in a foreign country solely to avoid paying taxes on my income and housing in the-country-that-must-not-be-named.

1. After 34 days in the United States (just to be on the safe side, though I might take a trip to Montreal or Toronto, letting me stay a bit longer), I plan to while away the time until September in some foreign land, before I look for a job in Turkey.

Is there a good country, or countries around the Med or Eastern Europe that I can live cheaply for a bit? Camping out in a tent might be an awesome way to spend the time. Georgia, Morocco, Jordan, Serbia, Croatia, and the Ukraine immediately come to mind, though some of the New EU members might be OK too, especially if I live in a tent and maybe backpack a bit.

2. I'm thinking that if I don't get a Job in Turkey by late October, I will try to find another place to live until 2012, then come back home, teach English as a volunteer, and either get a Fulbright (Plan B), get another job from home (Plan C), or apply to EPI-TCTMNBN (plan D).

In the meantime (November, December), is there a nice, cheap place to spend the time, anywhere? Especially if it's warm enough to do more backpacking/tent-living. Not Southeast Asia, I flatly refuse to go where it's so hot if I'm not getting paid. But Europe and the Med, Latin America, even Nepal or Sri Lanka or Mauritius might be OK.

Ideally in both cases it should be a country where I'm not super-likely to get robbed or mugged since I plan to buy a Galaxy Tab and a smartphone.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
~Q

[GuestBob]

[naturegirl321]

If you're an American, you can get out of US taxes through the 2555 or 1116. For the 1116, you can live IN the US and still get out of taxes. It's for peopel with foreign incomes and residency is NOT a requirement.

Central and Eastern Europe is cheaper than the West. You can stay for free through places like couch surfing. Or like other posters have mentioned, camping is cheap and sometimes free.

If you go during the off season, prices drop dramatically. And don't forget about bargining, or asking for discounts if you have an ISIC card or are a teacher.

Latin American can be cheap. Places like Bolivia spring to mind. Uruguay, possibly as well.

What is "EPI-TCTMNBN"?

[spiral78]

[smithrn1983]

I wouldn't go to Georgia if I were you, for reasons Spiral already mentioned. Georgia also has the occasional spat with Russia that never turns out well for the former.

I'd also advise against camping in Serbia. Some friends of mine traveled there recently, and said that if you don't know where to go, it can still be a pretty dangerous place.

[naturegirl321]

There's something else to be said about the 2555, I made FAR less than the $91,500 and still had to pay taxes a couple years ago. (Arg!) The 2555 is only . . . For one job, so if you do privates on the side, you hould pay taxes to that country (and then file the 1116) or to the US.
It doesn't cover self employment either. Even if you file the long 2555, the place you put it on your 1040 makes you end up paying taxes on it if it's over $400 a year.

I know a lot of poeple don't declare their income they get from private students. I did, cost me a couple hundred dollars in taxes, but it also got me the US tax resident form (despite not having or paying US taxes before than since 2002) and thus got me out of taxes here for two years.

Oh, and for the 2555 you have to be out for 330 days OR prove residency in another country and it's "residency" you don't need a resident card, just ties: bank accounts, apartment, car, job, etc. If I ever get out of TEFLing I think I might end up s an accountant for TEFLers

Anyways, just a tangent. And be careful about what spiral said, overstaying your visa in the Schengen area could mean: fines, imprisionment, banishment, etc. Not worht it.

[Mike_2007]

You could also try site likes xhelp.net and see if you can get a working holiday helping someone do up a house or whatever in exchange for accommodation and grub.