DDay -24

Observation #8:  Hong Kong taxes are a breeze to navigate.  With the VAT included in the price of everything (except big ticket items like cars/housing/rent), there is no need to stand in the aisle looking like a doofus with your iphone calculator pulled up so you can figure up how much your bill will actually be when you get to the check-out counter.  And figuring and paying income taxes are a dream here.

I have no idea why the US tax income system became so complicated but I have spent MONTHS getting our US income taxes in order and they still aren't done. It's a good thing that US citizens living abroad get an automatic extension to file on June 21 or we would be up a creek.  You know how long it took me to do my HK taxes? Only the time it took for me to print out my IR56G (like the W2) from my employer, take the bus to the Inland Revenue Department, stand in line for two minutes and sign a paper.  Total tax preparation/filing time = 30 minutes.

Oh, and my taxes are only 16% of income after all the allowed deductions.  I wish the US would simplify things, too.  One negative side of taxes here is that the price of a car doesn't incude the taxes, just like in the US.  The difference, though is that taxes on a new car are 100% of the purchase price.  That's right.  You pay for the car twice.  It's kind of like buying a house in the US...if you're lucky.