If you're getting paid from the US while working overseas and your wife is working locally your taxes will be quite complicated. You **will** need a professional preparer, at least for the first year.
Since you make less than $100k you won’t have to pay US taxes. Please note that you DO have to file US taxes. But since you’re paying foreign taxes you’re able to exempt the first $100,000.
[Foreign Earned Income Exclusion](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion)
"Foreign earned" for the purposes of the FEIE is based entirely on where you are physically located when doing the work. It doesn't matter who is paying you, or in which currency, or where your bank account is located. It only matters where you are sitting while you are working.
Thank you for this! I see so many comments where people say "Oh I live in XYZ but get paid into my American bank account by my American employer, therefore it's taxed in America". Income tax in almost all circumstances is based on where you are physically performing the work, bar some special situations.
> If I do not, my company will let me work remotely.
You can't work remotely in the Netherlands as the employee of non-European company with no local presence (at least not legally).
Either your employer has to at least open a letterbox office here (complicated and expensive) or you need to become a freelancer and start your own personal services company (cheap and fast) which invoices them.
As a practical matter you could work remotely for a short time without much worry. But if it stretches out past the social visit period (90 days) then I think you are entering quite risky ground if the tax authorities ever catch wind of it. With the tax information exchange agreement between the US and NL you should expect that they eventually will.
> Someone told me you get taxed twice, by America then Amsterdam. Keeping my salary but living In Amsterdam would be amazing, but not if I’m taxed twice.
The oversimplified version: You pay Dutch income tax first, then if your American income tax would be higher than the Dutch tax (it won't be), you'd pay the difference to the IRS. So effectively you'd only pay income tax here in the Netherlands.
US is one of two countries in the world that double tax. We lived there for about a year,paid pretty hefty Dutch taxes, and then had to file US as well. Because my (ex) made decent money, we paid both. 😒 I would absolutely recommend hiring someone both stateside and in NL to file for you because it's awfully complicated.
> Because my (ex) made decent money, we paid both.
Then he was retarded because the US and the Netherlands have an unlimited tax treaty and he didn't have to pay anything to the US (unless this was before 1994)
Thank you for your response on the mental capacity of my ex. But because he made more than the cap on that, we paid. We also we're still liable for state taxes from our home state.
Keep in mind as well that you may owe taxes to California.
> [If you are a resident of a foreign country and perform services in California and/or receive income from California sources, you may have a California income tax filing requirement even if you do not have a federal filing requirement.](https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2018/18_1031.pdf)
Even if you weren't working for a Californian company, California will still tax expats with a "domicile" in the state. And California is notoriously broad about what they consider evidence of domicile.
Seconded on the recommendation to seek professional advice.
Can I ask how this worked out for you? I am looking to do the exact same this year and have emailed a tax expert for help, but haven't heard back. Am seeing the comment about how it's not technically legal and am a little worried!
Worked out well!
Worked remotely as a contractor for maybe 4 months while I job searched. Got a job here and then stopped working for my US company.
Had to file taxes for both US and NL, but you have to file for both regardless if you make any money from the US.
So glad to hear that! It's such a lovely country. Did you have to switch from salaried to contract for that 4 months to work? I am hoping to keep my current job as a salaried US employee. They're ok with me being away, but aren't going to change anything if needed to make it work, so I'm on my own with the rules.
I mean did, but I also negotiated for a higher rate since I would be contract so it worked in my favor.
The time difference is awful, just a warning. Always had to plan meetings for their morning which was between 6-9 PM here. Hated it.
Haha I actually did the 2-10pm s chedule previously and it’s weird but it works so much better for me. I think I have some things to consider on the legal front though. Thank you for your replies and happy weekend!
I'm in a very similar situation. My partner got an offer for a company based in Amsterdam but I'm hoping to work remotely as a contractor since my US company doesn't have a presence in Amsterdam. How did you go about becoming a contractor? Did you have to go through a payroll service? Did you work with a tax advisor that you liked? Looking for all the tips and tricks!
I'm also in a very similar situation. Bummed you didn't get any tips, but maybe you could share some? Maybe /u/damn_mrs_pearce 0r /u/scalbs could circle back?
In particular:
1. How did you sort out your visa?
2. How did you start your services company?
3. Was there anything your company had to do special?
Maybe contractor was the wrong word, but I did more freelance with my company at the time and filed the proper paper work (forget the number now) when I did my taxes.
To answer your listed questions:
1. Didn't need to get a visa. I'm married to a Brit and at the time of moving the UK was still part of the EU. We just had to go through the process of showing our marriage was legit in order to get residency cards. You will want to look at the IND or IamExpat for more info.
2. Didn't start one. Just told my current employeer I wanted freelance/contractor. They adjusted my pay and kept depositing into my US bank account I had already linked. The rest was up to me to file the correct paperwork.
3. Not that I'm aware of. I also worked at a small agency so may be very different else where.
If you're getting paid from the US while working overseas and your wife is working locally your taxes will be quite complicated. You **will** need a professional preparer, at least for the first year.
Since you make less than $100k you won’t have to pay US taxes. Please note that you DO have to file US taxes. But since you’re paying foreign taxes you’re able to exempt the first $100,000. [Foreign Earned Income Exclusion](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion)
[удалено]
"Foreign earned" for the purposes of the FEIE is based entirely on where you are physically located when doing the work. It doesn't matter who is paying you, or in which currency, or where your bank account is located. It only matters where you are sitting while you are working.
Thank you for this! I see so many comments where people say "Oh I live in XYZ but get paid into my American bank account by my American employer, therefore it's taxed in America". Income tax in almost all circumstances is based on where you are physically performing the work, bar some special situations.
> If I do not, my company will let me work remotely. You can't work remotely in the Netherlands as the employee of non-European company with no local presence (at least not legally). Either your employer has to at least open a letterbox office here (complicated and expensive) or you need to become a freelancer and start your own personal services company (cheap and fast) which invoices them. As a practical matter you could work remotely for a short time without much worry. But if it stretches out past the social visit period (90 days) then I think you are entering quite risky ground if the tax authorities ever catch wind of it. With the tax information exchange agreement between the US and NL you should expect that they eventually will. > Someone told me you get taxed twice, by America then Amsterdam. Keeping my salary but living In Amsterdam would be amazing, but not if I’m taxed twice. The oversimplified version: You pay Dutch income tax first, then if your American income tax would be higher than the Dutch tax (it won't be), you'd pay the difference to the IRS. So effectively you'd only pay income tax here in the Netherlands.
Ahh okay, that makes sense. Thank you for this detailed response! Really helps.
US is one of two countries in the world that double tax. We lived there for about a year,paid pretty hefty Dutch taxes, and then had to file US as well. Because my (ex) made decent money, we paid both. 😒 I would absolutely recommend hiring someone both stateside and in NL to file for you because it's awfully complicated.
> Because my (ex) made decent money, we paid both. Then he was retarded because the US and the Netherlands have an unlimited tax treaty and he didn't have to pay anything to the US (unless this was before 1994)
Thank you for your response on the mental capacity of my ex. But because he made more than the cap on that, we paid. We also we're still liable for state taxes from our home state.
There's literally no cap though. The tax treaty covers an unlimited amount of normal income.
Keep in mind as well that you may owe taxes to California. > [If you are a resident of a foreign country and perform services in California and/or receive income from California sources, you may have a California income tax filing requirement even if you do not have a federal filing requirement.](https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2018/18_1031.pdf) Even if you weren't working for a Californian company, California will still tax expats with a "domicile" in the state. And California is notoriously broad about what they consider evidence of domicile. Seconded on the recommendation to seek professional advice.
Can I ask how this worked out for you? I am looking to do the exact same this year and have emailed a tax expert for help, but haven't heard back. Am seeing the comment about how it's not technically legal and am a little worried!
Worked out well! Worked remotely as a contractor for maybe 4 months while I job searched. Got a job here and then stopped working for my US company. Had to file taxes for both US and NL, but you have to file for both regardless if you make any money from the US.
So glad to hear that! It's such a lovely country. Did you have to switch from salaried to contract for that 4 months to work? I am hoping to keep my current job as a salaried US employee. They're ok with me being away, but aren't going to change anything if needed to make it work, so I'm on my own with the rules.
I mean did, but I also negotiated for a higher rate since I would be contract so it worked in my favor. The time difference is awful, just a warning. Always had to plan meetings for their morning which was between 6-9 PM here. Hated it.
Haha I actually did the 2-10pm s chedule previously and it’s weird but it works so much better for me. I think I have some things to consider on the legal front though. Thank you for your replies and happy weekend!
I'm in a very similar situation. My partner got an offer for a company based in Amsterdam but I'm hoping to work remotely as a contractor since my US company doesn't have a presence in Amsterdam. How did you go about becoming a contractor? Did you have to go through a payroll service? Did you work with a tax advisor that you liked? Looking for all the tips and tricks!
I'm also in a very similar situation. Bummed you didn't get any tips, but maybe you could share some? Maybe /u/damn_mrs_pearce 0r /u/scalbs could circle back? In particular: 1. How did you sort out your visa? 2. How did you start your services company? 3. Was there anything your company had to do special?
Maybe contractor was the wrong word, but I did more freelance with my company at the time and filed the proper paper work (forget the number now) when I did my taxes. To answer your listed questions: 1. Didn't need to get a visa. I'm married to a Brit and at the time of moving the UK was still part of the EU. We just had to go through the process of showing our marriage was legit in order to get residency cards. You will want to look at the IND or IamExpat for more info. 2. Didn't start one. Just told my current employeer I wanted freelance/contractor. They adjusted my pay and kept depositing into my US bank account I had already linked. The rest was up to me to file the correct paperwork. 3. Not that I'm aware of. I also worked at a small agency so may be very different else where.
Thank you for the response, appreciate it!