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How to Pay Remote Employees

fredperrotta.com

71–80 of 82 posts

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually thought I did (it's Florida by the way)... I want to be clear, that I don't blame the state in the slightest. I honestly feel that companies should have to pay taxes where they operate regardless of how many employees live there, but what sucks is that a lot of states have difficult tax codes, esoteric and difficult ways of sending taxes in, have varying laws that make it extremely hard to follow the law u…

Blame the state! A complicated, unwieldy tax code is their/our fault. They created an untenable system that got in the way of you entering into a mutually beneficial contract with another individual(s). It is 100% their fault.

America has it rough there. Australia (with a MUCH lower population) has only federal income tax, and a clear delineation of what taxes each level of government can charge.

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blame the state! A complicated, unwieldy tax code is their/our fault. They created an untenable system that got in the way of you entering into a mutually beneficial contract with another individual(s). It is 100% their fault.

But it may not have been my state in particular, but the fact that they are all different. Even the easiest tax system in the world won't make up for the fact that they need to record and charge for tax in that state, then send that money back to the state. Short of not having sales tax, there really isn't a way that they can simplify it. And again, unless you are a lawyer that knows the tax laws in that area, you wo…

Why not centralise it? Imagine a single account# that employees were paid to, where everything was taken care of? Lets say one earns $120K, an employer pays $10K a month to that number, and everything is taken care of, and the employee is responsible for the outcomes, e.g. if you move, you are responsible for changing your state of residence.

It is weird - and I say this as an Australian - that an employer can be on the hook for employee's moving. it would be much easier if this was managed centrally.

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#73
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually thought I did (it's Florida by the way)... I want to be clear, that I don't blame the state in the slightest. I honestly feel that companies should have to pay taxes where they operate regardless of how many employees live there, but what sucks is that a lot of states have difficult tax codes, esoteric and difficult ways of sending taxes in, have varying laws that make it extremely hard to follow the law u…

> I also don't really blame the company. You should. Or conversely, you can look at this as having dodged a bullet. On paper, they were willing to commit to multiple years of a presumptively-six-figure salary to you (seriously: an employment agreement is a big financial deal , even if it's legally "at will" -- there's a lot of money on the table) but pulled out because of some fear of bureaucracy and (maybe) a tax in…

I wonder when people say this sort of thing how much time they spend on tax compliance. I have a company in the UK and one in Australia, and man, it is a MINEFIELD. Very little of what one knows translates very well, as each country has its own quirks.

The USA is like that on STEROIDS. You can have 3 levels of income tax. that's insane! I can't image the costs of being complaint with that - not least of which is the cost of making an accidental mistake. I doubt many small businesses want to be experts in {INSERT STATE HERE}'s tax regulations and laws. Far easier to avoid the headache if at all possible.

And if you don't think that is the case, imagine instead of states it was countries. How much does a US company want to deal with Haitian laws?

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#74

removed

I always find it funny when people say it's only 15USD when a wire transfer in Europe in free

It's 40USD to of from the US, and no European bank wants to deal with the arcane way US wire transfers are handled. If you want to deal with that crap you have to pay the premium. It's not that much of a burden, because US rates are much higher than European rates, so you are still winning a lot. Just banks hate it.

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#75
post #44

Article is kind of an ad, but didn't know about Transferwise so glad I read it. Anyone have any comments about Transferwise?

I've used it to transfer money between an account in the UK (GBP) and my account in the Netherlands (EUR). It took less than 24 hours from signing up to Transferwise to having the money in my Dutch bank account and I got a good rate on it. No complaints from me whatsoever.

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#76
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was like reading an advertisement

It was an advertisement! It fact, it as an advertisement without a disclosure of financial incentives; which is in clear violation of FTC regulations. https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftc...

I love the casual language of the page you linked! It's much more friendly to the broad population and does pretty much devoid of legalese.

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#77
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was an advertisement! It fact, it as an advertisement without a disclosure of financial incentives; which is in clear violation of FTC regulations. https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftc...

I love the casual language of the page you linked! It's much more friendly to the broad population and does pretty much devoid of legalese.

Its good example of writing for your audience. The audience of that page is bloggers, YouTubers, and social media "influencers."

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#78
post #73
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I also don't really blame the company. You should. Or conversely, you can look at this as having dodged a bullet. On paper, they were willing to commit to multiple years of a presumptively-six-figure salary to you (seriously: an employment agreement is a big financial deal , even if it's legally "at will" -- there's a lot of money on the table) but pulled out because of some fear of bureaucracy and (maybe) a tax in…

I wonder when people say this sort of thing how much time they spend on tax compliance. I have a company in the UK and one in Australia, and man, it is a MINEFIELD. Very little of what one knows translates very well, as each country has its own quirks. The USA is like that on STEROIDS. You can have 3 levels of income tax. that's insane! I can't image the costs of being complaint with that - not least of which is the…

Sure it's complicated. All I'm saying is that it's significantly less complicated and expensive than hiring a full time engineer. People don't think like this, but hiring a salaried person is a ~$1M transaction in typical cases. Would you be willing to go through that red tape for a sales contract that would net $1M in revenue? Of course you would. So refusing to do it for an employee is being pennywise and pound foolish, and says something deep about your level of respect for your employees.

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#79
post #78
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder when people say this sort of thing how much time they spend on tax compliance. I have a company in the UK and one in Australia, and man, it is a MINEFIELD. Very little of what one knows translates very well, as each country has its own quirks. The USA is like that on STEROIDS. You can have 3 levels of income tax. that's insane! I can't image the costs of being complaint with that - not least of which is the…

Sure it's complicated. All I'm saying is that it's significantly less complicated and expensive than hiring a full time engineer. People don't think like this, but hiring a salaried person is a ~$1M transaction in typical cases. Would you be willing to go through that red tape for a sales contract that would net $1M in revenue? Of course you would. So refusing to do it for an employee is being pennywise and pound foo…

But they had other prospective employees as well.

The choice wasn't "hire someone or don't hire someone", it was "hire someone that will complicate taxes and cause more expenses, or hire someone else of similar salary and skill that doesn't cause those issues".

Re: How to Pay Remote Employees

#80
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not mention the state? You should contact your state representative (not member of Congress) and state senator (not US Senator) and let them know that you were denied a well-paying job because of the onerous standards your state has for remote work. They might be inclined to change it.

I actually thought I did (it's Florida by the way)... I want to be clear, that I don't blame the state in the slightest. I honestly feel that companies should have to pay taxes where they operate regardless of how many employees live there, but what sucks is that a lot of states have difficult tax codes, esoteric and difficult ways of sending taxes in, have varying laws that make it extremely hard to follow the law u…

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