Originally Posted by
NGjockey
I might have overlooked it here (it's a really long thread!), but I'm missing some important information regarding social security etc.:
If I understood this correctly, NJE pilots have to pay a 25% tax on their salary in Portugal. The amount after that deduction might have to be taxed again (at least for the difference to that 25% which has been taxed in Portugal) in the country of residence of the individual pilot.
What about health insurance and retirement fund payments (=social security)? Does NJE offer a health insurance which is also valid during the off days when at home? Does the company have a plan for retirement fund payments?
Social security is a big chunk which in some countries takes away even more from a gross salary than the regular taxes do, depending on which country one lives in. When I read here that some first year F/Os have grossed over a 100000€ I'd be tempted to ask what the NET amount was after deduction of the country of residence's tax, social security payment and possibly additional health insurance?
Your choice of permanent gateway will determine where you pay social security. The countries ss rules determine what you get out of it, e.g. public health insurance, state pension, unemployment insurance etc, as you will have the same status that any employee living in that country has.
On top you will have BUPA, international (without USA, only emergency) private health insurance for yourself and family members that's accessible 24/7/365. The company offers a pension plan and will match contributions to a certain level if you choose to partake in the scheme.
Regarding net salary, that setup results in some more or less favorable countries depending where you are in the salary bracket.
Germany for example has relatively high deductions for an FO just starting out as the annual gross is just at the social security cutoff point, so you pay 25% PT tax + 20%ss which is more than a regular german employee would pay at the same salary. However after one full year together with the productivity reward that will change in your favor as now the 25% PT Tax is less than the german tax, germany doesn't double tax and social security is capped at the max absolute contribution. You now have more net than a normal german employee at the same salary.
So as you see there are no blanket statements regarding net pay, you need to do your homework to work out how all of this plays out where you want to live. As a tip, google for a tax calculator for the country you are interested in, put in the gross salary but only look for the social security bit in result. Then, take the NJ gross, deduct 25%, deduct the social security figure from the calculator amd you should have a pretty good ballpark figure of the net pay in that country.