First time consultant, doubts on Taxation
1.If the compensation that I receive is over 10 lakhs, how much would be deducted as tax No tax will be deducted by the company. You have to calculate the tax and pay in Advance by yourself. There are quite a few Banks that give you online facility to pay your tax. There is no service tax. Otherwise the tax slabs are right. The current budget has slightly revised the tax brackets. 2.So are these the right taxes and % that Need to be paid? If not do let me know the correct deductions. Yes. Revised brackets for financial year 2014-2015 are NIL for first 2.5 lakhs. Other brackets are unchanged. 4.What others legal options I have to decrease the tax liability? As an employee of my ex company I had once taken an FD (that reduced my tax) The options are same as salaried, i.e. you can claim exemption under 80C or on interest of housing loan, etc. As a consultant certain expenses can also be deducted.  You should also talk to a CA who can help you with this as there will be some paperwork involved. "I would look into the possibility that the promise ""that no taxes will be withheld"" is all about your status as a 'consultant'.  They may be meaning you to be treated like a business they buy services from.  In Canada the distinction is very watery and I presume the same in India. If you agree to become a business, then you must look into how that business income will be taxed." This is how a consulting engagement in India works. If you are registered for Service Tax and have a service tax number, no tax is deducted at source and you have to pay 12.36% to service tax department during filing (once a quarter). If you do not have Service tax number i.e. not registered for service tax, the company is liable to deduct 10% at source and give the same to Income Tax Dept. and give you a Form-16 at the end of the financial year. If you fall in 10% tax bracket, no further tax liability, if you are in 30%, 20% more needs to be paid to Income Tax Dept.(calculate for 20% tax bracket). The tax slabs given above are fine. If you fail to pay the remainder tax (if applicable) Income Tax Dept. will send you a demand notice, politely asking you to pay at the end of the FY. I would suggest you talk to a CA, as there are implications of advance tax (on your consulting income) to be paid once a quarter.
"&gt;There was a good quote in the article about how Google, Apple and Amazon combined employ fewer than 1/3 the people that GM did in 1980.  Yeah, that was from [the Economist](http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/10/death-steve-jobs?page=1)  First, that is only a total of their DIRECT employees (numbers from Wikipedia on each company):  * Amazon = 33,700 * Apple = 60,400 * Facebook = 3,000 * Google = 31,353  So, that is NOT including *indirect* employees, including any and all subcontractors... to wit:  * Amazon -- sells lots of stuff, but lets just think of the BOOKS alone: there are LOTS of authors, publishers, printing industry people, etc -- who are NOT direct employees of Amazon, nor even indirect ""contract""  employees; but whom Amazon's business model has doubtless helped to increase TOTAL sales of their products. (And then of course, there are all of the Amazon ""affiliates"".)  * Apple -- sells stuff, but basically no longer manufactures anything at all (so comparing it to GM would only be valid if one looked ONLY at GM's engineering and sales personnel, and ignored it's manufacturing people, or if GM had likewise ""subcontracted"" all of its manufacturing to say Toyota); just about everything that Apple sells is made by subcontract overseas manufacturers -- like FoxConn (which employed over 900,000 people in China in 2010); and of course that is NOT including the component manufacturers.  And of course, this is also ignoring the entire software industry that has built up around Apple's products (Mac and iApp developers).  * Facebook &amp; Google -- likewise, there are a lot of ""indirect"" non-employees who nonetheless are in many senses laboring for these companies AND be compensated by them (whether App developers, affiliates, etc).  **I find it VERY notable that *theEconomist* entirely ignored firms like MicroSoft (92,000+ direct employees) and dozens &amp; even hundreds of others software companies like Adobe Systems (9,000+), etc -- not to mention countless thousands of consulting companies.**  At it's absolute PEAK employment in 1970, GM had a little under 400,000 employees.  If you add in Microsoft, Adobe, and a handful of CAD software companies, then ""high tech"" employs at least that number. Add in the (domestic) sub-contract employees, the consultants, affiliates, and on... and they employ far MORE people (even domestically) than not only GM, but GM + Ford + Chrysler combined.  Add in the worldwide employment, and there is no comparison at all.\*  And even then, all of it is beside the point.  Yes, you cannot ""eat"" software or an iPod... but likewise you cannot ""eat"" a car.  What is chiefly critical is whether a nation can FEED itself, and the US production of foodstuffs has never been higher, nor -- on a long term comparison basis -- have food or energy costs ever been lower (even with all of the disastrous effects of monetary inflation).  \*What the US's current problem is, is DOMESTIC employment -- and that is mainly a result of various TRADE, MONETARY and TAXATION policies -- it certainly isn't the direct fault of private industry (and definitely not the fault of ""technology"").  I mean good god, how many times does the Luddite meme need to be proven false." Three points for you to keep in mind. 1. In the very first year, you should have 182 days outside India. So that in the year when you start your consultancy, you will not have any liability to pay tax on earning abroad. 2. Although you may be starting a consultancy abroad, if you do any services in India, there will be withholding tax depending on the country in which you have started the consultancy business. 3. Whatever money you repatriate is not taxable in India. However, if you you repatriate the money as gift to anyone who is not a relative, will be taxed in his/her hand. This answer comes from my interpretation of Publication 590 (2011), Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) and particularly What Are Qualified Distributions? section. Please consult the sources yourself or with the help of a qualified professional before doing anything. First, note that due to the rollover loophole, you can take out the money and repay it within 60 days. Missing the deadline would mean paying the taxes on the withdrawal in addition to a 10% penalty. As per JoeTaxpayer's notes below, this applies to the earnings on the account only. The contributions themselves can be withdrawn without penalties (thanks, Joe!).  Second, you might qualify to withdraw 10k for a qualified first-home house purchase. Qualified, in this case, would mean first-time home purchase by yourself, your spouse, your child, parent, or grandchild, made within 120 days of withdrawal (see first home in the above document). Finally, nothing is mentioned about the withdrawal affecting your yearly contribution cap. Any new money coming into the account is new money counted towards the contribution cap (except for the 60 day loophole).  To answer your question then: you can make up the money only under the first scenario (60 day loophole). Qualified withdrawals allow you to avoid the penalties, but as far as I can tell, do not affect the contribution cap. There are a few other details that may depend on your age, reservist status, health, etc. Read the document carefully to see if any of those apply to you. "I also don't know the specific details for Finland and/or Belgium, however many countries have tax treaties, which generally prevent double taxation (i.e., paying tax in both countries on the same base income). Being that both Finland and Belgium are EU member states, I'm quite certain there's a provision that covers this, and the same would apply: You pay taxes on what you earn while in Finland to Finland, and to Belgium what you earn while in Belgium. All of this is similar to what you presented, however there's also a section where you'd declare how much taxes were paid in other countries. One other thing to note, which will be the determining factor in the above, is whether EU law requires you to change residence to BE for the time you're there. If not  then you'll be paying taxes in Finland the entire time on the entire amount. This comes from an Irish governmental site: ""By working in another member state and by transferring your residence there, you are likely to become ""resident for tax purposes"" there. The definition of fiscal residence varies from one member state to another. You must comply with the laws of the country where you have established your residence. The laws on personal taxation vary considerably from one member state to another and you may be liable for taxation in more than one country. In general, you are subject to income tax in the country where you are living but this may not be the case if you are a “posted worker” – see below. In general, property is taxed in the country in which it is situated but, again, there are variations. Tax agreements have been concluded between most of the member states of the EU, which are intended to avoid double taxation, if you derive income from different countries. In general, national fiscal rules must respect the fundamental principle of non-discrimination against nationals of another EU country.""" When in doubt, you should always seek the advice of a professional tax preparer or your accountant. (Many agents/accountants will gladly review your tax preparations to ensure you haven't missed something. That's quicker and cheaper than paying them to do it all.) Having said that... This Illinois resource has detailed information about S-corps:  Of relevance to your situation: Expenses are where the catch is found.  Not all expenditures are considered expenses for tax purposes.  Good CPAs make a comfortable living untangling this sort of thing.  Advice for both of your family members' businesses...consult with a CPA before making big purchases.  They may need to adjust the way they buy, or the timing of it, or simply to set aside capital to pay the taxes for the profit used to purchase those items.  CPA can help find the best path.  That 10k in unallocated income can be used to redecorate your office, but there's still 3k in taxes due on it. Bottom Line:  Can't label business income as profit until the taxes have been paid. They might be concerned with having to charge sales tax in California if they have a single employee in California, creating a nexus situation with CA. If that's the case, or even if there is some other issue, you might be able to switch from being a W2 employee to being a 1099 independent contractor. There's a host of additional issues this could cause, but it alleviate the nexus problem (if THAT is the problem). Here's a terrible solution you can bring up, but shouldn't do under any circumstances: offer to set up a mailing address in an allowed State, and give your company plausible deniability with regards to your legal residence. Obviously, this is a terrible idea, but exploring that option with your employer would help you suss out what the actual objection is. Ultimately, anything said here about the reason is just conjecture. You need to talk to the decision maker(s) about the real reason behind the denial. Then you can talk through solutions. Also - don't forget that you can get another job. If you are serious about a future with your girlfriend, you should put that relationship ahead of your current employment comfort and security. If you are willing to walk away from your position, you are in a much better situation to negotiate. "As you clarified in the comments, it is not a contract work but rather an additional temporary assignment with the same employer. You were paid for it in form of a ""bonus"" - one time irregular payment, instead of regular periodic payments. Irregular wage payments fall under the flat rate withholding rule (the 25% for Federal, some States have similar rules for State withholding). This is not taxes, this is withholding. Withholding is money the employer takes from your salary and forwards to the IRS on the account of your tax liability, but it is not in itself your tax liability. When you do your annual tax return, you'll calculate the actual tax you were supposed to pay, and the difference between what was withheld and your actual tax will be refunded to you (or owed by you, if not enough was withheld). You can control the regular pay withholding using W4 form."