Contracting in the USA

[ChimpMaster]

I'm still in contract in the UK but have been approached by an ex-colleague to work for a different company in the US. He is the interviewer for this role so almost guarantees me the offer. Whether the company have any problems with a British citizen is another matter which I have yet to find out.

Now I have worked in the US before, but for a permie UK consultancy. I'm interested in how contracting works out there.

Has anyone here actually contracted for any decent length of time in the US? If so, would you be so kind as to tell me how I might need to set myself up to invoice over there?

They are also considering permie - which would be $100k (which is 'OK' for the US I gather). Would this be a better option in order to get residency?

I don't normally ask such wide-ranging (read thick) questions but this is an area I'm virgin on and hoping to get knowledge on quickly.

[filthy1980]

I'm still in contract in the UK but have been approached by an ex-colleague to work for a different company in the US. He is the interviewer for this role so almost guarantees me the offer. Whether the company have any problems with a British citizen is another matter which I have yet to find out.

Now I have worked in the US before, but for a permie UK consultancy. I'm interested in how contracting works out there.

Has anyone here actually contracted for any decent length of time in the US? If so, would you be so kind as to tell me how I might need to set myself up to invoice over there?

They are also considering permie - which would be $100k (which is 'OK' for the US I gather). Would this be a better option in order to get residency?

I don't normally ask such wide-ranging (read thick) questions but this is an area I'm virgin on and hoping to get knowledge on quickly.

have no practicle knowledge to offer but just from general knowledge i know that the tax rates for non residents is quite steep

and have read on here that there maybe an option to have an "EU Contract" i'm sure someone will be able to offer more helpful advise

[kandr]

have no practicle knowledge to offer but just from general knowledge i know that the tax rates for non residents is quite steep

and have read on here that there maybe an option to have an "EU Contract" i'm sure someone will be able to offer more helpful advise

I have no practicle knowledge either, but just from general knowledge, you might need to get a flight to get there, and they use dollars not pounds.

HTH

[xchaotic]

As far as I remember if you were a US citizen and doing contracts, you have two typical options, but both are loaded with taxes that are surprisingly higher than in Europe so do your research well before you set the rate.
Also even if you're a tax payer you get no health insurance what so ever, paying your own, I'm guessing $10k easily if you want to get coverage equivalent to Europe, still there will be expectation and for a heart bypass you'll have to pay 500k.

All in all, I'd rather work in Malaysia or middle east than US, but if you're adventurous, I'd go with a permie role initially and negotiate good perks (that is: good health insurance, but not car or mileage as cars and fuel are still cheap) and 100k+ salary for a metropolitan area (nyc, bay area etc) is like you just said just 'ok'.

[ChimpMaster]

As far as I remember if you were a US citizen and doing contracts, you have two typical options, but both are loaded with taxes that are surprisingly higher than in Europe so do your research well before you set the rate.
Also even if you're a tax payer you get no health insurance what so ever, paying your own, I'm guessing $10k easily if you want to get coverage equivalent to Europe, still there will be expectation and for a heart bypass you'll have to pay 500k.

All in all, I'd rather work in Malaysia or middle east than US, but if you're adventurous, I'd go with a permie role initially and negotiate good perks (that is: good health insurance, but not car or mileage as cars and fuel are still cheap) and 100k+ salary for a metropolitan area (nyc, bay area etc) is like you just said just 'ok'.

Thanks XC.

The tax is something I'm keen to find out about. Certainly as I would plan to be out there for at least a year, I would not be paying UK tax. Perhaps permie is the way to go with this one - the role is an hour out of LA but not in a big city, though a decent property (4 bed detached) would cost $1m - I actually went to view some while out there.

I'm surprised no one here has actually made this kind of move yet - come on you must be out there!

[Fac511]

I contracted out there last summer, although it was on an assignment for a UK based company (I worked for them previously and a new US based project came up).


Anyway, all I would advise is paying experts up front to get all the paperwork (VISA's etc.) and company formation set up properly from the start. The VISA's alone are a nightmare and think it is best to get everything set up properly BEFORE YOU GO or (no exaggeration) you could well end up in the Sheriff office!

On that note (and don't mean to put you on a downer) but have you actually applied for the VISA yet? Just I know it took a permie guy for my company 6+ months with the company sponsoring him and they were paying experts to do it all.

HTH