Sharing time between two countries

[eekee 182]

As far as Russian taxes, it depends on what they plan to do - it's hard to hold down a full-time job when you are going to be gone half the year. They must have some sort of telecommuting/work at home thing going on if spending half the year in Russia is even a remote possibility. If you work physically in Russia but do everything through a US bank account, then Russian taxes shouldn't be a problem. I'm not sure how it works for Russian citizens, though. I believe smr mentioned some of this above.

[SMR 368]

I don't have specifics on this new tax. I heard it from my brother-in-law. He works as an accountant for an organization in Russia, so I trust that he is on top of things. He, like everyone else, isn't sure how it will end up being implemented.

As far as the scope, my understanding is that it should be scariest to Russians who work in the US. If they go back to Russia, they could be subject to a 13% tax on their US earnings. Exactly how this will be determined/regulated/collected is the big unknown that makes this somewhat uncertain.

Edited July 6, 2013 by SMR

[eekee 182]

I don't have specifics on this new tax. I heard it from my brother-in-law. He works as an accountant for an organization in Russia, so I trust that he is on top of things. He, like everyone else, isn't sure how it will end up being implemented.

As far as the scope, my understanding is that it should be scariest to Russians who work in the US. If they go back to Russia, they could be subject to a 13% tax on their US earnings. Exactly how this will be determined/regulated/collected is the big unknown that makes this somewhat uncertain.

My guess is just as well as taxes are currently collected in Russia.

[Nick_Moscow 2]

So heres my question.

I will be applying for my citizenship this year. My hubby and I are seriously thinking about living 6 months here in the US and the other 6 months in Saint Petersburg.

is it even possible?Do you know anyone who does that?

The biggest consideration that first hit my mind is, yes, the tax question.

First, there is obviously the financial. You need to pay for travel and two residences while constantly switching jobs (unless retired or able to work remotely). If you can do that financially, power to you.

The other issue I see is that your husband will need to figure out how to stay in Russia.

I think you're making this sound tougher than it needs to be (somehow you made it sound like only "rich" people can afford to do this). At least one option that came to mind is renting your apartment or home when you're in the other country (even better if you rent to friends or family whom you can trust); this should be especially easy in St. Petersburg where I'm sure there's a big rental market=lots of demand.Then for the job part, you could take up work either in the US or St. Pete that lends itself to being part time or contractual, so that you can easily leave it and pick it up again (I'm thinking teacher if in the US-you'll have every summer off to catch the White Nights!-or TOEFL if in Russia). Neither of these options is simple maybe but the point I'm making is that living in two countries at different points throughout the year is not an option open only to retirees or the "rich."

As for staying in Russia as an American, for your husband I think permanent residency is the best option, except if he wants at some point to work for a US National Security agency or contractor. Yes applying for permanent residency will be a headache but IMHO the long-term reward is worth the upfront hassle.

You guys can check out the forums on expat.Ru for expat-centered info, but they are heavily slanted toward Moscow. There is a SPb-focused group on internations that may be helpful as well.

You beat me to it Yes expat.ru has tons of info on the residency topic (or at least it did in 2007-2008) so it should be a great resource if your hubby wants to go this route. I never heard of this internations forum but will have to check it out!

Haven't heard that.. kind of disconcerting actually, even though 13% is still low, it would be unfortunate on top of US income tax since there is no tax treaty between the US and Russia. Any links/sources?

I'm with you-- I won't buy this until I see links or sources (even in cyrillic). As far as I know we Americans are the only ones lucky enough to have our worldwide income taxed! On that note, if I'm reading this correctly, our lovely IRS even tries to tax folks who renounce their citizenship! More pertinent to the discussion at hand, here you can read about the foreign income exclusion, which I think shows that the first $95K that you earn abroad is not taxed. Lots of interesting reading here, including tax homes and abodes and itinerants....I'll leave it to you to read the details, but just know that the tax question should be a big part of your decision.

Good luck on your decision! If you find a way to make this work, as you and your husband soak up the beauty of St. Pete know that I will be jealously wallowing in my cubicle here in the US, working for a third of the year for Uncle Sam ...just let us all know how you made it work!

[domwardbound 73]

Well, currently all Russian residents are taxed on their worldwide income. That is, if you live in Russia for more than 183 days per year, you pay 13% on worldwide income, regardless of citizenship.

However, I haven't seen anything about something special for citizens who spend less than 183 days per year in Russia - as far as I know, if you aren't a resident of Russia, you pay no tax on foreign-source income, even if you're Russian.

Will have to wait and see if something is announced.. if so, Putin has given another reason to Russian expats to not even visit. As SMR said.. it sounds crazy because keeping track of when people enter/leave is a lot of work. There's nothing like it that I've heard of. Americans are taxed worldwide, but at least the $95k exclusion helps.

[eekee 182]

As I stated before, if you are in Russia only half the time, you DO NOT qualify for permanent residency. You need to be there full-time, like with a green card.

[Nick_Moscow 2]

Sorry eekee but you must now be schooled (Don't get offended we're all having fun here) Remember how I said earlier in a different thread that Yankees love the rule of law?? If an American doesn't see the text of the law, he doesn't just blindly trust the bureaucrat's word- this is why all the forum members were enraged by the MD Motor Vehicle bureaucrats not knowing the rules for documents for foreign nationals applying for licenses. Thankfully it looks like the Russians are coming around in their expectations of their bureaucrats--

As I stated before, if you are in Russia only half the time, you DO NOT qualify for permanent residency. You need to be there full-time, like with a green card.

Actually the rule is that you have to have lived in RF at least a year before applying:

До получения вида на жительство иностранный гражданин обязан прожить в Российской Федерации не менее одного года на основании разрешения на временное проживание.

and you must live in RF at least 6 months out of every year after obtaining permanent residency:

Вид на жительство иностранному гражданину не выдается, а ранее выданный вид на жительство аннулируется в случае, если данный иностранный гражданин:

11) находится за пределами Российской Федерации более шести месяцев;

But seriously! I'm very grateful to the OP and eekee for bringing up this topic. I haven't looked at RF Permanent Residency since 2007-2008, when I was busy crafting ways to stay in the country with my beautiful wife longer, without having to take the train to Kiev for a new visa every three months. ...It looks like things have changed a lot: the site describing the rules looks more transparent, and it seems like you can even apply electronically now!

...And actually you're not quite accurate on the U.S. Green Card, either: the rule is that you can't be outside of the Land of Liberty for more than a year, not that you have to stay within it for a full year at a time or even permanently. ...this would explain how these two friends of friends worked out their life arrangement, which might be interesting to the OP: they lived in Russia year round, but since the Russian wife didn't want citizenship, they always traveled to the American husband's hometown at least once a year to maintain the Permanent Residency.

[eekee 182]

While you have your temporary permanent residency, you must be there for more than six months in order to get permanent-permanent residency. It is NOT the best option in this case. I know all of two people who have it, and I know plenty of people who have worked as foreigners in Russia for years and years. Especially with the current tourist visa regime, the easiness of getting paid under the table, the fact that they'd have to spend a year in Russia to even apply, i really see no reason to even try. The time spent in OVIR alone is enough to scare most off.

[SMR 368]

I think you're making this sound tougher than it needs to be (somehow you made it sound like only "rich" people can afford to do this). At least one option that came to mind is renting your apartment or home when you're in the other country (even better if you rent to friends or family whom you can trust); this should be especially easy in St. Petersburg where I'm sure there's a big rental market=lots of demand.Then for the job part, you could take up work either in the US or St. Pete that lends itself to being part time or contractual, so that you can easily leave it and pick it up again (I'm thinking teacher if in the US-you'll have every summer off to catch the White Nights!-or TOEFL if in Russia). Neither of these options is simple maybe but the point I'm making is that living in two countries at different points throughout the year is not an option open only to retirees or the "rich."

It all depends on your job. Is it mobile? Can you drop it and then pick it up without significant setbacks? Is it really worth keeping in the first place? I didn't mean to say that these things make it impossible, but only that in my opinion they are the biggest consideration. With a reliable supply of money most other considerations become paperwork. Without it, minor problems become debilitating.

As far as renting, I'm curious if you've really dealt with this before. I haven't but always imagined it would be more difficult than you make it out to be. If you have relatives that are willing to manage the property for you than I suppose it could work, but without that I expect it's practically impossible. If you have relatives that need a place to rent half of the year, then obviously it becomes simple.

[Hollyday 122]

As far as renting, I'm curious if you've really dealt with this before. I haven't but always imagined it would be more difficult than you make it out to be. If you have relatives that are willing to manage the property for you than I suppose it could work, but without that I expect it's practically impossible. If you have relatives that need a place to rent half of the year, then obviously it becomes simple.

Actually i'm wondering the same thing. I don't know many people who'd be interested in renting for such a period - it's 'in between', not a long term where one would live for a couple of years without the hassle of having to move in 6 months nor a short term where a tourist could rent it for a week or two. How would it be managed? It can be set up as a mini hotel-like apartment but how would it be rented out with owners abroad? Involving a managing company would be kind of tricky i think. And also, i personally wouldn't like getting it back after different other people. Especially if it's a mini-hotel kind of thing. Yuck. It's a matter of taste of course.