[H-GEN] Working for a USA company from my Australian

[Paul Gearon]

On Nov 27, 2006, at 6:52 PM, Craig Cook wrote:

> Not having a social security number or an easy way to get one is  
> going to be an issue.
>
> I have worked in the US on a H1-B visa.  Had to go to the Social  
> Security office to get a temporary number.  Your real card is  
> mailed later.
>
> After you get your social, you can get a bank account, drivers  
> license etc.  That does not really apply to you though.

Actually, you can get bank accounts, phone accounts, gas,  
electricity, etc, without an SSN.  You can't get a drivers license  
though.  (yes, that's "licence" spelled with an "s").

> Technically, if the US company does employ you, they will need to  
> work out how to pay you ;)
>
> If you are not actually living in the US I am not sure if they will  
> tax you since you are not a US citizen.
>
> If you live and get paid in Aus, they will want their tax.

In terms of "fairness" I'm inclined to agree with you.  However,  
there was a recent case of someone telecommuting from out of state  
into New York, where the state of New York wanted to tax this guy,  
even though he didn't live or work there.  Each state can make their  
own arbitrary rules on these things, so you can't just make  
assumptions about this.  The only people who can help are  
accountants.... and even then, most accountants have no idea.  It's  
painful.  :-(

In my case, I telecommuted for 8 months from Brisbane before I  
moved.  My company is a US company without an Australian presence.   
According to my company, they could not "employ" me until I moved to  
the US, as the law prohibits them from employing anyone who does not  
have residency status (it doesn't matter that I was not "resident",  
as the law was written before such things were commonly possible).   
However, different lawyers say different things, so maybe someone's  
lawyer somewhere found a loophole (I really wouldn't be surprised).

According to my company's accountants, the only solution was for me  
to be a contractor whom they paid monthly.  I then had to deal with  
my own taxes, super, etc.  At least I saved on the GST, since they  
were a foreign company.

That said, I'm visiting my Australian accountant in December, as I  
still have to clear up my taxes for the 2005-2006 financial year.   
Yuck.  Then once I get back I'll have to clear up the 2006 financial  
in year in the USA.  Double yuck.

Paul