Well you’ve been here since September 2020. Never too late to learn.
Well to be fair, the only other country you should be comparing to is one that taxes by citizenship, and that other country is a very small and poor one.
Also FEIE doesn’t apply for self employment tax, which is about 15% up to about 140k
FICA is for entitlement programs (SS and Medicare). Actually you can get out of FICA if you work for a foreign employer.
Btw speaking of Medicare, you can enroll in Medicare as an expat, but Medicare will generally not pay for healthcare services outside of the US. So be prepared for more “injustice” if you plan to live abroad as a retiree.
Bottom line, the US has a worldwide taxation system and it doesn’t include Amazon Prime delivery of vaccines to you wherever in the world you go.
If you feel the system is so unfair that you can’t live with that, you can get citizenship somewhere else and renounce in the US. But don’t expect any other country to airlift stuff to you either.
I think that’s pretty callous. What about someone who doesn’t have enough money to do that? I’m planning to go to the US for the summer and get a Pfizer vaccine but it will be very expensive after the plane ticket, hotel, cost of living, etc… but it’s worth it to me, to see my mom and get vaccinated, but not everyone can do that. I don’t think that it’s necessarily “entitled” or whiny for Americans to wish that their government, which has a surplus of vaccines, could help them. For me, I was a bit upset when a co-worker whose husband works for AIT told me that she got the Pfizer vaccine here and looked down her nose at my “inferior” AZ vaccine. Intellectually, I understand that they need to take care of embassy employees and families, but on an emotional level that upset me. Yes, I understand that I signed up to live abroad, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t feel tinge of resentment in this case (although, again, I understand it).
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Indeed, and the fact that someone keep dramatically mentioning “airlift” (as if it’s a 1:1 personal delivery) clearly demonstrates they missed both memos that (1) USA has a surplus on vaccines, and (2) USA is going to share 5 million surplus vaccines with Taiwan; the point of this post.
The vaccines would ALREADY be in Taiwan; just a donation. In this context, it would make sense if Americans would get priority with a surplus already being bulk shipped to this country.
Even if that’s not point enough that American vaccines will arrive 20m from where I live, he mentions the word entitled? The person that had enough time and money to fly to get a vaccine and come home whenever chosen, only to call the majority here entitled that didn’t have this luxury for any number of reasons?
I thought healthcare wasn’t even something that the US governent was allowed to provide in the USA (except federal employees), it’s a state-level matter. The feds handled procurement and distribution of the vaccines, but each state can decide who gets them when. Perhaps we should be appealing to our home states (if you maintain a residence) and embassies could act as a go-between but that seems like it would get messy (and probably still subject to local customs regulations).
Sorry, but that’s tough. You made a decision to live abroad. When you decide to live abroad, you take on certain responsibilities and are on your own for a lot of things.
You signed up to live in a different country and under a different system. Just because that system can’t provide you something you want doesn’t mean that the US government is then obligated to provide it to you.
Furthermore, the US can’t legally provide what you want. It has no authority to administer vaccine to private US citizens in a foreign country. Can you imagine how many diplomatic problems could be created if the US government went into every country where there are US citizens and decided to give those citizens something the locals wanted but couldn’t get? Who would be responsible if something went wrong, like an allergic reaction?
AIT can vaccinate its workers and members of their families because AIT is a de factor embassy and those people have diplomatic privileges.
You are are a private American citizen living in Taiwan, and are thus subject to the laws of Taiwan. You have no diplomatic privileges. Pfizer is not even approved for use in Taiwan, so on what legal basis would the US government be authorized to provide this vaccine to you?
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You’re deliberately taking my quote out of context. I clearly said that I understand why the US government vaccinated embassy employees and their families. The fact that I resented that person in that moment (shes not an embassy employee, she just has the luck to be married to one) does not mean that I don’t understand why she was given Pfizer.
Like another poster pointed out, it’s a little ironic that you are accusing Americans who hope the US can help vaccinate them (a view which is shared by the former AIT director) of being entitled, when in the next breath you admit that you are going to the US to get vaccinated yourself which is the epitome of privilege in this situation. Not everyone can afford to take at least a month off work, pay for a plane ticket and place to stay.
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Had to login to +1 your posts on this topic. The level of arrogance/ignorance by us Americans can be unnerving at times.
If you want a vaccine, go back home and get it. Not a lot of people around you have the option of doing that.
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I think you have some odd ideas about entitlement and privilege.
I paid for my trip back with my own money. I didn’t expect anyone, let alone the US government, to bail me out and cover it. When I chose to live overseas, I accepted that I could find myself in situations where I might have to incur significant costs related to healthcare, emergency travel, etc. and made plans to cover them through savings and insurance. This is called “being responsible”.
Anyone who is in TW right now either 1) made the decision not to return to the US when the US government encouraged all citizens to return or 2) made the decision to leave the US to go abroad when the US government discouraged citizens from traveling.
Our decisions have consequences.
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I think that we both are in the same situation. I haven’t left Taiwan since the beginning of 2020, and have been extremely grateful to live here, but am leaving now (not forever) to get vaccinated, enjoy a place I haven’t been to in several years, and see my family. However, I know that I’m incredibly lucky that I get to do that: 1) I am from a country that will allow me back without expensive quarantine requirements on their end 2) I can afford to take an indefinite leave from my job 3)I have family to rely on in the US if worse comes to worse and 4) I have international health insurance that will cover me in the US. But I know that I am very privileged, and many expats or immigrants in Taiwan do not have this option available to them. I guess we will just agree to disagree on the meanings of entitlement and privilege. I don’t understand your comment that you “paid for the trip with your own money.” So did I, however apparently you and I are both very lucky that we have the assets to be able to do so. That is the definition of privilege.
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I don’t know how any American in Taiwan who is so lazy they haven’t already dropped everything they’re doing, hopped on a plane and flown to the US for a free vaccination can even show their face, virtually or otherwise. In fact, could we get such good-for-nothing loafers banned from commenting on covid, especially those leaches who use ‘excuses’ like ‘kids’.
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Getting a priority vaccination at AIT isn’t something that I would demand or expect, but it would sure be great. I would never begrudge paying taxes to Uncle Sam again while living abroad. I’d also be willing to sign waivers in case I had a bad reaction to the vaccine.
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Yes, we are very lucky. As far as I can tell, the difference between us is that you expressed the opinion that just because you have to file taxes in the US, the US government should provide you with the vaccine as a resident of a foreign country. Even though the US is very clear that when you choose to go abroad, you must make arrangements to take care of yourself.
Becoming a resident in a foreign country means that you are agreeing to live under that country’s system. Expecting special treatment (like access to vaccines that are unavailable to locals and not even approved in the foreign country) because you are an American is the very definition of entitlement. Not only would the US providing vaccines to private American citizens in foreign countries be wrong on the basis that it violates the sovereignty of foreign countries, it would be morally wrong too.
Bottom line, there is no legal or moral basis for what you said you wanted.
Bob, what exactly entitles Taiwan to receive these vaccines?
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Not sure I follow your question?
TW, as a sovereign country, has every right to acquire or develop vaccines, approve their use, and set the terms on which they are distributed to people in TW.
Why are they entitled to receive surplus vaccines from the US?
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I think maybe you meant to respond to a different person? I never said TW was entitled to receive surplus vaccines from the US.
anyhow, pointless conversation. We get our company paid bizclass roundtrip, but not until day 366 of the assignment. Having kids in school, [goddamn little consequence turns 8 soon!] we can’t get to US soil and return in time to start school clear of Q-time, and 1 week self monitoring. We’re here as Americans to support Taiwan, no harm in hoping that, maybe, the favor gets returned, if only in kind.
No one in this thread has gone full “karen” [hate that meme], stamping their feet holding one arm out, sleeve rolled up demanding a shot from the manager. Try an ounce of patience, humanity, convivial bullshittery, whatever. zero need to throw shit in people’s face that they didn’t pinch out themselves.
edit: my one concession is that the thread title could have been phrased: Will Americans get any, rather than priority. that was an expectation of entitlement i guess.
I guess I was just trying to point out that (in my opinion), you are displaying the same sense of entitlement and privilege that you accuse the Americans who express a desire for the US to help vaccinate citizens abroad. You are entitled and privileged to be able to go back to the US to get vaccinated (as am I) and it seems frustrating that you don’t seem to admit that.
One more thing and then I’ll exit this conversation - Taiwan doesn’t have enough vaccines right now, so the US offering to help private citizens acquire vaccination would only help Taiwan as it would increase the number of vaccinated residents. I don’t think that’s a moral conundrum. The moral problem would arise if the US was vaccinating Americans here and letting Taiwanese go without (which I guess they kind of are doing, since AIT employees and families are getting Pfizer), but I don’t believe that would happen as the Taiwan-made vaccines will supposedly be ready by July. If anything, the US might be helping Taiwan save resources. But, this really is a pointless conversation, as I don’t believe the US will offer to vaccinate us here.