Originally Posted by
Gnadenburg
I’m pleased this thread moved on from a few days ago, where the Oztronaut mentality was happy to kick an own goal with supply and demand of pilots in this country.
I have to ask but WTF would you commute to Australia once you make the big bucks Stateside? Not only will it kill you if poorly done, in my calculations you may be paying up to $8000AUD + per month to the ATO in additional taxation based on a Captain’s wage. If Australia isn’t a boring country generally in your personal view, it is indisputably aviation wise. It’s quite amazing what US pilots do leisure wise in aviation and that money could buy additional aviation adventures - versus paying Aussies to sit under a tree and not work. 😊
I really have no idea about Australian taxes anymore but it would be interesting to see a proper comparison.
Medical insurance here is essentially a tax, so I'd lump that in. Property taxes vs rates, car insurance costs, utilities.
There is also a big difference tax wise between living in California and Florida or Nevada.
Most Atlas pilots I've asked think they don't need to pay in Australia or have some kind of cognitive gymnastics going on that allows them to justify ignoring it.
I'd be super interested to hear from anyone who does it properly and has done a comprehensive comparison against living in and paying taxes in the US instead.