Upfront costs

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Upfront costs

by BeyondHopeful

Jun 26, 2019

I read that the move and getting started can cost you upwards of thousands of dollars and that you have to fork over that money until your advance and reimbursement come through. How do you afford that? I'm a teacher and do not have thousands of dollars in savings. I love paycheck to paycheck. Is it possible to put all of it on a credit card until the money comes through? What are other options?

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HelpOthers I agree with the way haha explains it. My final paragraph describes TQSA vs LQA.

You will not receive TQSA in advance. You have to turn in "paid" receipts in order to receive reimbursement for lodging. Food is reimbursed based on what you say you spent. I created a spreadsheet for each 10 days to include grocery shopping etc., and divided...See MoreI agree with the way haha explains it. My final paragraph describes TQSA vs LQA.

You will not receive TQSA in advance. You have to turn in "paid" receipts in order to receive reimbursement for lodging. Food is reimbursed based on what you say you spent. I created a spreadsheet for each 10 days to include grocery shopping etc., and divided by the number of days. If all the days are the same amount on our worksheet, there will be a problem, because they don't expect this you to actually spend the exact same amount. So after dividing, there is usually a little left as a remainder and that gets added to one of the 10 days for it to be accurate. Keep receipts (photo copies) to help you calculate and to have evidence in case you are ever asked to produce the receipts.

You need enough credit to charge the first 20-24 days of lodging, meals and incidentals. After the first 10 days, you submit what you spent and wait about two weeks to be reimbursed while spending the next 10 days.

You may need cash for transportation that was not paid for by the government like the shuttle bus or taxi from the airport to your destination. If traveling from a major airport in Japan to one of the military locations in the Kanto plains, the military shuttle bus can cost $40 or more per person in cash. Keep these receipts (take a photo) to include in your reimbursement requests.

Also, even though it feels like you are being paid more with TQSA because lodigng and food are included, once you move into your house, you receive LQA and Post Allowance (cost of living). The Post Allowance was more than we were spending in food at the time and the LQA covered a house and utilities. Additionally it is unclear with the tax issue for new employees whether TQSA is taxable. LQA is not.

You can wait to buy a car in most locations, because there are usually shuttles from the lodging facility to where you would work, or someone from work might be willing to give you a ride until you are settled. I suggest requesting the full pay advance. If you don't spend it all, it will be there to help you during the first summer with no paycheck, but you really don't know how much you need until you don't have it.

When you move into your place, you need to pay in cash, the first month's rent, a deposit equal to the first month's rent and an agent fee usually about the cost of one moth's rent (so about 3 months rent up front). Pet deposits are also paid in cash and are usually not refundable after you leave. In Korea, apparently you can pay the entire year up front to include rent and utilities and can wait until you actually have the LQA money from the government, so you may not need the cash up front. This is not true for Japan.

Most people use a company that accepts money from you via your bank account (I created one just for this so they don't have access to all my money) and they will pay your rent and utilities for you for a monthly fee then will provide you with copies of all the receipts to use for reconciliation at the end of the year. The disadvantage to the one I use, is they always pull the 1st and 15th when military gets paid, not when we actually get paid, so I have to pay attention to how much I put in that account when.

You may need to purchase a car and pay the insurance and taxes again in cash. In Japan this is usually less than $3000 unless you get a van, or gas guzzler, then you may pay closer to $5000 total. If you have two working people and live far from where you work, you may want two vehicles right away. Or, you might want to buy bicycles. In Japan, there are very nice ones, so you may want to buy one that costs $100-$10000 depending on the gadgets and whether it comes with a motor.

Jun 28, 2019

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Just Me How does anyone afford a $15,000 tax bill from the move? Is there a payment plan? LOL! I am seriously stressing over whether or not I can even afford this job!

Jun 28, 2019

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subman Beyond- again if I'm reading things right it doesn't say you have to pay the taxes on the move. the move itself is considered taxable income. so if your move cost $20K and your income is 70K your w2 would reflect 90K if you're in a 25% tax bracket your tax bill would go up 5K . again that's my understanding. This is a new tax code but I haven't hea...See More

Jun 28, 2019

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Ida Additionally we are getting conflicting answers on what actually will be taxed. So far none of the new teachers at our school last year were taxed any where near that amount. Now, they re not feeling totally out of the woods but it just shows that there isn't an automatic $15k tax bill. It seems like 1. It could get sorted out and 2. You might have...See More

Jun 28, 2019

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