Omnidragon said:
Newbie's absolutely right. I'm pretty set on transferring to HK permanently after the first full-yr bonus (not the stub). Much harder work though... I wouldn't wanna spend my first year there (hats off to you Newbie ^_^)
In summer, there was this guy who was sent here from HK for a few months and he told us how slack the Melb & Syd offices are in comparison.
Re tax: I think the Australian Government will chase non-HK residents who bring their money back to Australia. Over the pass 10 yrs, the Govt has gone out of its way to contact heaps of my relatives working in HK (who are dual-citizens) to ask them for taxes (hahaha). My relatives told them to piss off (rightfully and legally).
The key is to get tax residency in Hong Kong.
That way, none of your income is taxed in Australia, unless it is from investments (such as real estate and shares) that are located in Australia, in which case you need to pay tax on income from those.
These are the punishing rates of tax that the poor residents of HK have to put up with . . .
Rates of tax 2007/2008
First HK$35,000 2%
Next HK$35,000 7%
Next HK$35,000 12%
On the remainder 17%
Standard rate 16%
The maximum tax, however, is limited to tax at the standard rate (16%) on the net assessable income. So even though 17% is the top marginal rate of tax, the actual amount you end up paying is the lesser of 16% or the progressive rates.
