dan1984

I like this, Dan. Never saw this tool from Google before - saved for future reference.

Sounds like a smooth transition, congratulations!!

Same with Doug, we don't really know each other, but, great to hear you guys are doing well, best of luck in the future!

Thanks Randy, I will ask my lady about this and see if she has heard of this or if she knows of any similar options. I wouldn't be opposed to going the Chinese insurance route, I guess I just never considered it. I will look into this too......thanks!

Thank you very much for the suggestion - I will be looking into this!! Really appreciate it! Good luck with your preparations for your move~~

Hi All, I've been through the discussions on the forum about obtaining medical insurance as I continue to live in China, and although there was some good information, there were no real recommendations. The "travel insurance" I've been on for the past 2 years is up next week, and instead of renewing, I'm thinking about going in a different direction. I've never had to put the coverage to use, but whenever I've contacted the company with questions they have never been that helpful. To be honest, I would be expecting a battle if I were to try and make a claim. Also, next month I turn 30. No no no, I'm taking the occasion in stride, but at the same time, I can tell a difference in my body now from what it was 10 years ago, never know when things can take a turn for the worse........ ..........and as such, I've been trying to find a solid company to buy coverage through. "Travel insurance" would be alright, but I'm more apt to purchase an affordable not-break-the-bank type of actual "medical coverage" plan that covers my bases should things go south. These are the two companies I'm looking at now: http://www.iexpatriatehealthinsurance.com/ http://www.medexassist.com/Default.aspx But to be honest, I don't really have any reason to choose these two companies other than their websites were easiest to use......yeah, that sounds pretty bad, but most of these expat insurance programs seem the same. I know lots of people receive medical coverage through their jobs, but as that is not an option for me currently, just checking in with all of you. Any suggestions or companies any of you have used before? Thanks in advance! dan~

Happy Birthday Carl, hope you have a good one!!

Interesting.....

One note about the transcripts being mailed to you in China. In the past I called the IRS (errrr, I think it was the IRS, whatever the help phone number was associated with acquiring these transcripts....this was 3 or 4 years ago) to have the transcripts sent directly to me here in China. The lady said no problem, took my address, and said I should receive them soon. About a month later I got an email from my parents stating the tax transcripts arrived at their home (as I use their address as my 'home address' while I've been in China all these years) - transcripts ended up be mailed there and not to me here in China. So, if you are expecting the transcripts to be mailed to you directly here in China from the IRS, perhaps it would be best to check in with your "home" (the address you used to file your taxes) back in the US to see if they've been sent there. Hope that makes sense. Dan~

Perhaps some that love conspiracy theories would find this as ample ammunition, but one of my friends from here in Beijing, a guy who is now studying in Chicago, his Aunt was on this flight, and his family is in a surreal type of dream currently. Just so hard to fathom one of these birds flying in the sky and the next thing you know 240 lives are lost. Not that I know my friend's Aunt personally, but, anyone with a heart and compassion can feel it....... I just got back on the computer and I don't know if there has been any updated info, but, here's to still hoping for the best..........

Doesn't sound like a fun situation, sorry you're going through this, best of luck to you.

Finishing up watching the third season of Shameless currently. After that definitely looking forward to season 2 of House of Cards, the first season was amazing! Showtime, HBO, WWE, NBA, and so many over the air tv shows (Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, and dozens more) are now working directly with Sohu, Youku, Tudou, and other Chinese YouTube-esque websites to directly license their products legitimately - as opposed to the streetside vendors selling fakes. I'm watching more U.S. tv shows here in China than I ever did when actually back in the U.S., pretty weird! Also, really really convenient to watch with your significant other, as their are Chinese subtitles - great way for them to practice their English.

Can't say I'm surprised............

You can get your wife to convert it for you, or get her to initiate the transfer in her name. I'm not sure that that's necessary - just bringing it to your attention. You apparently DON'T have a working visa, since that would tie you to a single employer. To carry more than $10,000 with you on your return, you would simply need to declare it to customs in the U.S. You are required to report your Chinese earnings on your income tax return, but would most likely owe $0 tax on it, thanks to the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, UNLESS you also have U.S.-based income to report which pushes you into a higher tax bracket. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion does not allow you to EXCLUDE Foreign Earned Income - it gives you a tax credit based on the lowest American tax brackets. Just to clarify, if you carry more than $10,000 with you on your return to the U.S., this is just declaring it, and you won't need to pay taxes on it, correct?

If you're asking me, somebody in the attire you speak of sounds much more trustworthy than most people I encounter on a daily basis!! Haha. Sometimes the most sensible path is the one least traveled......tis' the world we live in............

The I-129F is also available for a non-immigrant K-3 spousal visa. As soon as the I-130 is approved by the USCIS, that option is no longer available. The I-129F will be killed as soon as the I-130 catches up with it, as generally happens. People are generally discouraged from filing the I-129F after filing the I-130, like Dan says, but that IS an option they have available in the event that processing is delayed on the I-130. There is no charge for filing an I-129F after the P-1 receipt has been received for the I-130. Thanks for clarifying, Randy - on top of everything as always!! :worthy:

Also, you mentioned "your wife." If you are already married unfortunately the I-129F process is not available for you - that is only for unmarried couples - a "fiance visa." If you are already married, you will pursue a spousal visa and file either in the U.S. or here in China - depending on where you currently live.

Hey Tsapper, This should be required reading for young people! You should go into motivational speaking moving forward, haha. Your words have most definitely been taken to hard, and won't soon be forgotten. For as excited as we are right now in looking to get started, even the best idea will not be brought to life without hard work. It will be a long and tough road ahead, but most definitely worth it. Lots of ideas, just need to stay focused and start walking in the right direction. End of a long weekend on this end, about to indulge in a "home hot pot" to end the day. Yeah!! Take care! dan~

Nice!!!

Thanks Tsapper! It is somewhat daunting, but I feel its the best way to go, and like you said, if I'm not going to try and grab life by the horns at this point in time, what else am I waiting for! It's people like you who give me the confidence to go forward and give something like this a try. There are millions of people unhappy with life but so few try and do anything about it. That's not to say I'm unhappy with life, most of us here are very lucky with what we have, BUT, I'm just trying to do what I want to do and create the best life possible. In addition, with so many lifelong friends as well as my lady's family here in China, from here on out until my final days I will inevitably have a life on both sides of the planet. Working for myself and trying to keep it US-China related will give me the best opportunity to spend time in both places. I always heard that you don't really understand the U.S. (or any country for that matter) until you leave it, and I've found that to be so true. Beyond just understanding better the U.S. as a country and everything I previously took for granted, one thing that has become crystal clear to me since I moved to China is that people often times burden themselves with unnecessary anxiety, problems, or "what should be done because that's just the way it is." I know life at times can be very hard, but since distancing myself from everything I once knew to be true (via my move to China), I think once you free yourself of that mindset and way to live life, you'll become much happier.....I know I have. Wow, I've officially barged through the gates of hippy-ville and taken a seat. I know it probably all sounds quite idealistic, but, I guess I always have been more of an optimist than pessimist. Thanks for the encouragement once again, Tsapper! Best of luck to you and yours there! dan~ Nah, you're not being idealistic Dan. You've done a lot in your life. How many people head off to another country and make a new living for themselves? You should be proud of yourself. That sort of gumption, the will to step outside of the normal should help you in your entrepreneur venture. Not that there is anything wrong with working for others, that is what most folks do and it works out well for them. Some folks just have that itch to step away from the normal and usual routine, or get stuck in the merry-go-round of the "safe" routine and never find, or test themselves, often winding up later in life with questions, of what if?. There is nothing easy about entrepreneurship. It is a huge risk and it takes tons of study, thought, guts. It can overwhelm you to be taking something from scratch and building it into something viable, but at the end of the day it is always yours. You did this. For myself, I came out of a drug rehab at age 35 and since I had already burned all of my bridges in the field that I was in and could no longer get hired locally I jumped into a field of which I knew nothing, carpet, upholstery, and drapery cleaning. In the DC area alone there were more than 500 carpet cleaners already in business, sending out those flyers of we can clean your whole house for $75....LOL When I got into it I thought you just had to have a strong back, a van with equipment that made hot water and had a strong vacuum. I quickly found out they had classes for this stuff. Man, I started going to these two day classes and would have notebooks full of questions and notes on what the instructors were saying about the chemistry and techniques of doing a first class job. Often, on their breaks I would hound the instructor with questions, even followed them into the bathroom asking questions....LOL I ate, sleep, dreamed, and thought about carpet cleaning. I felt so alive and invigorated as I listened to those instructors and read my notebooks of notes. In the classes the instructors would often have to defend themselves against the old hands who strongly argued that you "can't charge" that much for cleaning carpets. Me, I was too new to the industry to be stuck in any old fashioned ways or train of thought on pricing. The instructors taught me to find my "niche" in an overcrowded business and push it. That I could step out in front of the others and their quality of work, especially the pricing. Pricing that many folks could well have made more money working for someone else than they did working for themselves...as the instructors were teaching, "they had a job, not a business.". I used to laugh when we would sit in association meetings and the talk got around to pricing that "I was lucky that I was TOO STUPID when I got into carpet cleaning to understand that no, I couldn't charge 20 cents a square foot (an unheard of price in the 1980s and even in the 1990's) to clean carpets. In 1985 that is what I started doing. Soon I was charging $75 dollars to clean single rooms, not the whole freakin' house...and as per the instructor's advice, each year that price went up a penny or two....until I sold that business in 2003, charging .43 cents per square foot and running 3 vans flat out 6 days a week to keep up with the customer demand for our services. Of course, that type of pricing demanded that you offer the exacting quality and customer service so people would pay that sort of money and tell all their friends about you. That is where the "find your niche" and work it to wealth" part comes in. Over 500 cleaners in the DC, Baltimore, Northern Virginia area and here the phone is bringing in 20 to 30 calls a day, for a company who's advertising is solely word of mouth, Mrs. Piffleton telling Mrs Doctor's Wife...no flyers, no letters and traveling billboards on the 3 vans, no newspaper ads....only a simple unhighlighted line in the phone book....Curtis and Daughter Fiber Cleaning. That was what the little dream turned into Dan. It took all of my time and thought. Much education and hard work, sticking to it when the early times were tight, constantly looking to improve, 10 to 15 hour days doing the work and training others to do it the same way, and agonizing over even the smallest detail. Find your niche Dan and work it. I applaud you and wish you luck. Dreams can come true. I was a down and out drug addict with a few days sobriety when I started a business in a field that I had never worked in. Damn near everybody, especially other carpet cleaners I met dissed me and thought it would never work. Study your trade, be open to change and innovations, and put your nose firmly to the grindstone. I'm excited for you. Success doesn't come quick or easy, and things can overwhelm you at times...but...with the dream, the work, and the spirit you can do anything you want to. I started out thinking I would have it made when I had my one van busy and was making a decent living. It turned out to be much, much more than that. Financial freedom, many 3 month trips down under, while the business ran itself. You can do it buddy. tsap seui Hey Tsapper, Wow, I'm not sure I even know what to say, this was quite the inspiring block of text here. Sorry it has taken me awhile to get back to you, but back in late January when you sent this I was about to head out the door for two weeks down in Vietnam with the lady and her family for the Chinese New Year. Yep, this year we didn't go back to her hometown in Sichuan, and instead the two of us, her parents, and her Aunt's family (4) all went to Vietnam to ring in the Chinese New Year. I have to say it was a surreal experience all around - traveling with my lady's family, my first time to a "tropical beach seaside location," thinking about all the stories I've always heard about the Vietnam War and now actually being there, of course all the good times that went along with the seafood/renting a motorbike and cruising up and down the coast/ungodly cheap massages/etc. Got back to Beijing a few days ago and I don't know if it was the 80 degree temperature change, eating some dirty food, the difference in fresh healthy food in Vietnam versus the two meals I ate at Chinese restaurants after arriving that were VERY OILY, or, I put my nose where it shouldn't have been and sniffed out some germs. Either way, I'm finally back to normal and feel as if I can leave a few comments here that match the inspiration I received from your post. I've said it to you in the past, but conquering the demons from your past and staying strong is about as good as it gets, and the business you created and life you now have is your reward. Back in the U.S. I know people who have gone through similar issues, but being a part of the Beijing rock n' roll scene and always being around friends who live life by indulging in anything and everything, it catches up with you and can be a pretty scary thing. Just really glad you were able to pull through. And then you made it happen, from nothing to "everything." It's stories like yours that really do inspire me - not being afraid to think big, think outside the box, and leave the safety of everyday life to reach for something out of sight. I think you're right in saying there's nothing wrong with being idealistic and going for it, but that's not to say anything will be handed to you. It takes hard work and perseverance. Every time I write to friends back home in the States I don't think they understand what I'm doing at all - be it moving to China in the first place or giving up a job and abandoning everything to fight an uphill battle in these uncertain times. I guess I don't have any good answers for them other than I know it's what I should be doing. It's even more intense for my lady. We had a bunch of discussions while in Vietnam and a couple days ago upon returning to Beijing she quite the job she's had for the past 3+ years and is now venturing off on her own as well. Surprisingly her parents are on her bandwagon and supporting her fully, as is most of her other family, and it's actually her friends who have been a bit more caught off guard. But I guess that's how it is for young Chinese 20 and 30 somethings with the weight of the world on their shoulders - need to graduate, find a job, get married, buy an apartment, have a kid, support 2 sets of parents, etc. I couldn't even imagine having this type of pressure and lack of freedom in my life. But anyways, she's also going to try and get her own project off the ground. No specific idea yet, but there are quite a few potential gems being bantered around. With each of us doing our own thing, we are probably going to try and do some sort of joint project as well, potential with one of her uncles, but we'll see what happens. The winds are still circling and nothing has come into view yet, but I will be sure to keep you updated. Although I don't have the extreme pressure on my shoulders that I mentioned above, it can be pretty daunting. Being the type of person I am, like to understand everything in advance, and trying to wrap my head around the tax ramifications for having a foreign business makes the immigrant visa process seem easy to me!! Ughhh, perhaps it will make more sense once I get actual numbers to work with come a year or two down the line and I'm not just playing with scenarios in my mind. Win, lose, or draw though, it will all be worth it. Although I've never had to go off to war or fought through the exact same challenges you went through in the past, everybody goes through hard times in one way or another, and although my train was almost derailed a couple times in the past, it sounds cliche but it really does make you a better person, and I'm happy with the person I am today, so I wouldn't change a thing. Hopefully come 5 - 10 - 15 years from now we'll have found success as well and can let the business run itself for a few months at a time and re-enact your trips down under. Live the good life and appreciate it every step of the way. Thanks for all the encouragement, really really appreciate it. Happiness and health to you and your family there, talk soon! dan

Yes, exactly. YOU (not your corporation) are an American citizen, subject to the taxation laws of the United States. This form is apparently where your corporation enters that picture. Can't say I know anything more about it. Let us know what you find out. I can imagine it would be complex - it's basically informing the IRS of this foreign corporation which otherwise does not come anywhere near their umbrella. But put your tax figures through TurboTax - it will show where the guy is WRONG. You DO figure a tax on the "excluded" income - and it's not necessarily $0, especially if you have unearned income to report (like the guy pointed out, this income would not qualify for the inclusion). The Form 1040 Instructions tell you this little gem - "But if you are filing Form 2555 or 2555-EZ, you must use the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet instead." when it comes to figuring your actual taxes. The Turbo Tax software is aware of (and uses) this worksheet Hmmmm, lots to wrap my head around - it's going to be a bumpy ride. Thanks for all the help Randy and talking me through it.

Received another response from the tax professional at TurboTax, and this is what he/she wrote: “"The HK business is a separate entity and will pay it's own taxes based on HK laws. On your return, you will need to report worldwide income, including any salaries, interest , dividends etc.that you personally receive from this HK entity. The foreign earned income exclusion is only for earned income and if all the tests for the exclusion of the income apply, you can exclude the amounts that are received by you as salaries. Any other foreign income, e.g. interest, dividends, capital gains etc. cannot be excluded for the foreign earned income exclusion. There is a limit to the exclusion ($97,600 for 2013). If your foreign earned income exceeds that amount, the excess will be subject to tax. If you have paid foreign taxes on the foreign income , you may be entitled to a foreign tax credit on the portion of the income that has not been excluded under the foreign earned income exclusion. I hope that clarifies the situation a little more. Thank you for using TurboTax."" That seems to answer most of my concerns and give me peace of mind. HOWEVER, have any of you guys ever heard of this dreaded Form 5471?? Even though it appears to be nothing more than a declaration form, it is rather involved and the estimated preparation times are rather absurd. I've searched for some "how to guidelines online" but I have yet to find anything useful.

Excellent write-up! Saved for future reference. But more importantly, congratulations!! All the best to you guys moving forward!

Credzba and I had some discussion there. TurboTax I believe will simply take the fact that you are living (and working) in China as evidence that you qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. My own guess is that as long as you are subject to taxation by another country, then you are in good shape as far as claiming the "exclusion". If you don't fall under either the Chinese or the Hong Kong tax umbrellas, then you may face some questions by the IRS. That's just my own guess there, and doesn't qualify as any sort of legal advice and DOESN'T reflect any meaningful research. Be prepared and do your own research there - credzba may have some advice for you there. Whether your business would need to file anything in the U.S. may be another issue to look into. Thanks again, Randy. My line of thinking is the same as yours (as I'm under the Hong Kong tax umbrella that puts me in good shape for claiming the 'exclusion'), but I have not been able to find any concrete confirmation of this as of yet, so, the search continues. I just received this reply from a 'Tax Professional' at TurboTax: ""If the Hong Kong entity is a corporation, then you would need to report any income from the company to you (e.g. salaries paid by the company to you, interest on any loan that you give to the company, dividends paid by company). You would not be reporting or filing any tax returns for the company in US, unless the company did business or had a presence in US. However, as a US citizen with a substantial interest in a foreign corporation, you may be required to file Form 5471 Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect To Certain Foreign Corporations http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5471.pdf TurboTax does not support Form 5471."" Based on this response, although not explicitly stated, it appears that I will have to report the money I earn and in turn I can file this under the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. Form 5471is something I else I will have to look into.

Thanks Randy and Andelu! Absolutely, I know what you guys are saying but perhaps didn't express myself clearly. Each year I do declare the income I earn here in China on my taxes but because it is under the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion I have not had to pay any taxes. I'm still not clear on if there is any distinction between the foreign income I earn as an employee and what I will (hopefully) earn as a business owner; and in addition, how I will report this income earned from being a business owner abroad in filling out my yearly tax papers - TurboTax has been good to me, hopefully it won't fail me now. I guess time for some more research and ideally finding some answers.