Re: Taxes, Credit Cards, Housing, and Space A

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DODD Teachers Chatboard

Taxes, Credit Cards, Housing, and Space A

by anotherteacher

Jun 18, 2017

First of all I just want to thank all of you who regularly respond to our questions on these message boards. DoDDS is exciting but can be a painfully confusing system at times and it's great to have veterans who are willing to take time out of their day to help people like me who are new to the system. Thanks so much!

I have a few somewhat unrelated questions about overseas living if anyone could assist me.

I heard from a friend in the military (not in DoDDS) that DoDDS teachers do not need to pay federal, state, or local taxes. I heard that we're only required to pay sales taxes for purchases made off base. Already DoDDS teachers have some of the best salaries in the country when accounting for housing allowances in addition to decent salaries, but having no taxes in addition to that seems almost too good to be true. What taxes are DoDDS teachers required to pay?

I'm also interested in what credit cards are best for overseas ...See MoreFirst of all I just want to thank all of you who regularly respond to our questions on these message boards. DoDDS is exciting but can be a painfully confusing system at times and it's great to have veterans who are willing to take time out of their day to help people like me who are new to the system. Thanks so much!

I have a few somewhat unrelated questions about overseas living if anyone could assist me.

I heard from a friend in the military (not in DoDDS) that DoDDS teachers do not need to pay federal, state, or local taxes. I heard that we're only required to pay sales taxes for purchases made off base. Already DoDDS teachers have some of the best salaries in the country when accounting for housing allowances in addition to decent salaries, but having no taxes in addition to that seems almost too good to be true. What taxes are DoDDS teachers required to pay?

I'm also interested in what credit cards are best for overseas use and on base use? Has anyone run into troubles with their bank for using credit cards overseas? I realize certain countries like Japan are primarily cash based economies, but whenever possible I'd like to use a credit card for both the security and rewards offers. So what credit cards would you recommend for overseas use that have no foreign transaction fees and won't run me into trouble when living overseas as opposed to simply traveling overseas.

I've heard from a few DoDDS teachers that it's better to buy a house than to rent a house because renting can often mean your housing allowance just disappears, whereas purchasing a house can allow you to resell your house and get your housing allowance back to keep. How easy is it to both purchase and sell a house back? Is it worth buying a house over renting one?

Finally, I've heard that DoDDS teachers have access to Space A flights but I haven't heard of many teachers actually taking advantage of them during summer vacation or visiting family back home. What are the rules with Space A? Also, are Space A flights completely free for DoDDS teachers as long as there is space available and you've made it to the top of the waiting list?

Thanks for any advice you guys can offer me. I appreciate your help!

Teach I most definitely paid federal and state (NC) taxes while teaching in Okinawa. I recently filled out federal and state withholding forms for my new position in Japan. It can be difficult for teachers to purchase homes overseas, but some do. Space A has a priority system, so civilians are likely to be low priority, and the flights are often hard to ...See More

Jun 18, 2017

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anotherteacher Thanks for the info. Is Navy Federal Credit Union open to civilians as well? Also, for tax purposes, since you're living overseas, are you allowed to claim any state as your residence?

Jun 18, 2017

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Teach I believe you have to establish residency in a state to use that state for tax purposes. I believe that any DOD civilians can join Navy Federal now.

Jun 18, 2017

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