[globetrecker]

Greetings! My husband and I are moving to Tauranga, NZ in April. He is a web developer/internet marketer and works from home. I haven't seen anything on other posts about this type of situation. Anyone else out there know about working from home and how to juggle everything (NZ health care, taxes, etc.) with him making U.S. dollars?

I haven't found anything buried in the NZ immigration websites yet.

[mgf]

Not to sure about the answer to your question but welcome to Tauranga from a fellow Yank. You'll love it here. What part of the States are you from?

[Mrs Pony]

not sure either... but welcome!

[IanW99]

Greetings! My husband and I are moving to Tauranga, NZ in April. He is a web developer/internet marketer and works from home. I haven't seen anything on other posts about this type of situation. Anyone else out there know about working from home and how to juggle everything (NZ health care, taxes, etc.) with him making U.S. dollars?

I haven't found anything buried in the NZ immigration websites yet.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Check out this thread regarding living in NZ and working remotely...http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=19937

As there is a double taxation agreement with USA you will likely pay taxes in US and then if you would have paid more tax in NZ (almost certainly) then you will have to pay NZ the difference - you will have to submit an IR3 form.

Health care will still be available if your visa is for two or more years.

You don't say what visa you are coming in on and who is the principal applicant? Not sure how NZIS see it if the principal applicant doesn't actually work in NZ?

Ian

[globetrecker]

Mgf- to answer your question, we are moving from Salt Lake City, Utah to Tauranga/Bay of Plenty area. Glad you love it!

Ian- thank you for your information, we will go to that link you provided. We are contemplating a 2 year visa, but are unsure if that is the best thing right now. Lots of research to do!

[globetrecker]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Check out this thread regarding living in NZ and working remotely...http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=19937

As there is a double taxation agreement with USA you will likely pay taxes in US and then if you would have paid more tax in NZ (almost certainly) then you will have to pay NZ the difference - you will have to submit an IR3 form.

Health care will still be available if your visa is for two or more years.

You don't say what visa you are coming in on and who is the principal applicant? Not sure how NZIS see it if the principal applicant doesn't actually work in NZ?

Ian

Hmm...well we have decided we'd like to try it for a year and then go from there. I am having a tough time finding what kind of visa to get for just a year. We are both over 30, so from what I've researched, we can't get a work holiday visa. How do we go about living there for just one year and then determining where to go from there (back to U.S. or get residency in NZ)? Wonder what visa to get esp. if we just pay taxes on the money my husband makes in U.S. with his web development. We won't be working in NZ. Basically, an extended holiday...

[Nick88]

These are questions best answered by an accountant. I would suggest using one of the bigger firms as they are more likely to have overseas offices and customers that have foreign earnings.

[IanW99]

Hmm...well we have decided we'd like to try it for a year and then go from there. I am having a tough time finding what kind of visa to get for just a year. We are both over 30, so from what I've researched, we can't get a work holiday visa. How do we go about living there for just one year and then determining where to go from there (back to U.S. or get residency in NZ)? Wonder what visa to get esp. if we just pay taxes on the money my husband makes in U.S. with his web development. We won't be working in NZ. Basically, an extended holiday...

You say that you are over 30 but are you over 35? If not, have you considered the IEP visa - see BUNAC (http://www.bunac.org/usa/worknewzealand/default.aspx) for details.

You won't of course be covered by the health care in NZ so will need to take out some medical insurance.

Ian

[globetrecker]

You say that you are over 30 but are you over 35? If not, have you considered the IEP visa - see BUNAC (http://www.bunac.org/usa/worknewzealand/default.aspx) for details.

You won't of course be covered by the health care in NZ so will need to take out some medical insurance.

Ian

This may be helpful for others, so I thought I'd respond with what I've found out. Bunac won't allow anyone to work from home, so this option won't work for those of us in this boat. The other option we've found is to go in on a visitor visa and then extend upwards to a year. After 9 months or as long as the visa will allow, we'll be figuring out whether we want to be permanent or not, and then will make things official and permanent before we hit our year mark.

We have to show that we have enough income/finances via bank statements, etc. to prove we can afford to live there and purchase a ticket home (should we just be visitors only and not have PR). We will continue to pay U.S. taxes but not NZ because we'll be on a visitors' permit. We will also get private insurance for the time we are there.

I hope that helps! We still have some sorting to do, but hopefully this helps people in the future.

And, btw, this is a VERY unique situation and the L.A. Consulate was perplexed as to what to advise. So, be warned that you need to talk to someone at the most professional, experienced level.