The International Schools Review Forum

I am deep into my pre-fair research on different schools and countries attending the AASSA fair in 2 weeks.

It would really help to hear from folks in the know about actual tax rates in different countries...as this impacts my savings potential significantly. And without knowing the tax information, it is hard to evaluation salaries side-by-side, as the net income is really what counts from my view.

An director in Brazil I interviewed with last week told me the rate in Brazil is 27%, although you get 9% back after four years.

With salaries lower than many places (and sometimes cost of living equally lower, sometimes not) the tax piece may well be a deal-breaker for me.

Hope folks in the know can chime in!
thanks

Be very careful with Brazil. I would ask to speak with some employees currently on staff. Brazil is shockingly expensive- for just about everything- and the quality is not good. Also, the taxes are quite high. You pay a lot and get very little in return. The infrastructure is poor, the roads & sidewalks are not well maintained. There is not good public transport available or nice parks to enjoy. So, make sure you will be making enough to live on. While I was in Brazil, they didn't take enough out of my pay so suddenly I would get an email from HR letting me know I owed $4000 for taxes this year- not fun.

Thank you, Indogal! I really appreciate the warning about Brazil. I am single and have some student loans (being paid back on income-based repayment plan, so the payment per month will change to a percentage of my gross salary overseas as well)

I need to look very carefully at the financial piece for each location.

I realize Mexico, Latin/South America is not the region known for savings potential...and I know that each place is going have different net income based on many factors. The thing that few schools info sheets talk about is the tax rates. Understanding net income is vitally important.

[quote="indogal"]Be very careful with Brazil. I would ask to speak with some employees currently on staff. Brazil is shockingly expensive- for just about everything- and the quality is not good. Also, the taxes are quite high. You pay a lot and get very little in return. The infrastructure is poor, the roads & sidewalks are not well maintained. There is not good public transport available or nice parks to enjoy. So, make sure you will be making enough to live on. While I was in Brazil, they didn't take enough out of my pay so suddenly I would get an email from HR letting me know I owed $4000 for taxes this year- not fun.[/quote]

Whihc Brazil did you live in? Are there two of them?

I completely agree with indogal's description of Brazil. I was able to save a lot of money while I was there, but I basically didn't do much or go on many trips. I hardly even ate dinner, since the school provided a huge lunch buffet. I lived like a miser and saved a lot, but I don't recommend that as a way to enjoy Brazil.

Anyone currently working in:

Mexico
Panama
Chile
Columbia
Peru
Ecuador

Know about income taxes there? I am trying to do as much research pre-fair as I can...and AASSA is next weekend.

Thanks!

I can't remember the specifics in Mexico, but the taxes didn't seem outrageous. Enough that I noticed them, but not enough to significantly change what I thought my income level would be.

For the record, I saved about a thousand dollars a month in Mexico (in Mexico City).