⌛ Have i been ripped off !!!!!

Complex indeed!

:(Then I can understand the confusion and obviously complex situation with the Airport issue. When I need to leave PI, I always try and get a Pal connection from Honk Kong if at all possible, I can agree with others that this makes my life a little easy, maybe a little more expensive but if the connections are good I can make the Journey in 1 day whether it be, Bangkok, Singapore or just Hong Kong. If Flying from Europe, I have yet to arrive in Manila with time to catch the PM flight to Dgte, I believe I could but I am not in the First Class Long Haul Flight Regime.


Jack P.

 

Not all banks in the Philippines charge 200 pesos on an ATM transaction with a foreign bankcard.
HSBC doesn't charge anything extra and i think also Citbank (both not in Dumaguete)

 

Hong Kong used to be the cheapest to fly between Europe and Asia.
Recently Singapore is more competitive (maebe because of cheap flights from Europe to Kuala Lumpur by Air Asia).
Advantage of Singapore is the new flights by PAL express between Singapore and Cebu- cheap flights in daytime - not like CP in the middle of the night.

 

I hope it works out that i get paid in US deposited to my US savings account and then all my bills over there in US clean out half my income from the US savings and the savings I have left over,i withdraw some via ATM and spend here ;where my home/country of residence is USA Hawaii.I register as extended stay tourist and make my return trip with less than a years stay,,I hope in all of this they still cant force me to pay taxes? Maybe i check with US veterans affairs about that?

 

1)Ok .. Ok dont want to do your homework.. ? then i will do it for you, maybe it wakens you up : the total costs of visa are for Europeans and Americans 22490 P a year right now including the " registration card "...excluding " fees/penalties" so that makes at the current exchange rate of 1$ = 43,2 pesos a total of about 520$ a year and thats a little more then your estimated 365 $ a year .
Yes , i know it will not ruin us but In my opinion its not "nothing".
Add to that 1200 a month ( by taking 60.000 From ATM ) that makes 14.400 a year .. so totally : 14.400+22490= 36.890 p a year .

2)maybe you dont expect your transaction to be free when you use a US credit card.. and as i told you , you can be satisfied because its of course not free : they take 2% anyway at the exchange rate. So the 200P is just an extra bonus to suck the foreigner.
The bank i am talking about , to answer your question , is ING , a world player. but ING or no ING, its normal all over Europe ( even in the former communist countries ) that your ATM transactions are free. ( set apart again the exchange rate differences ).
For the cards ( ING or not) a small yearly amount of about 50 euro is paid). thats all .

 

Earned & unearned income.

Tunji, When it comes to earnings, in the Main, any countries Tax System will try and obtain any monies due by assessment. If you live in a country for more than a set number of days per year you may, depending on the Country, be considered a Tax resident. It sounds as if you understand this statement. If you live in the PI for more than 168 days (this figure may be out of date) you will be considered a tax resident and should inform the BIR of all earnings. Now, If you are still working but earn your money abroad, it should be declared so that the PI is aware of where your money comes from. ( International Money Laundering Act) In my case I Did this, their answer was, prove you paid tax in Spain, I did. @12.5% which is a lower figure than the tax would have been in PI. So, because my main residence is here in DGTE it was their opinion that I should pay PI tax at the ruling rate.
They work on the assumption that I get all the privileges and schooling and the perks of a Filipino, (Yet can't own Land) and should therefore be liable for tax, , what all this means I may find out one day. The theory is that as the TAX band for me is 22% I owe them the difference. This Applies to earned income only Tunji, not gifts, pensions or inheritance. it could mean, Wages, Commissions, Rent from Foreign Property Rentals, Profit from Stocks and Shares. PI now have a reciprocal Agreement with most major world countries Tax & Social Insurance Systems to ensure that we all pay Tax somewhere when income tax is payable. The Moral of this is admit nothing. I hope you can understand the difference between earning in or out of the county and it's implications. Like any Tax System the more you look into it the more complicated it gets.


Jack P.

 

Yes, ... its questionable if these banks carry the maestro label/vignet and morerover we are here at the Dumaguete forum......

 

And the point is????

Harald, I get the impression that you are trying to make a point here, Enlighten us please as to exactly what you want. A bank that does not charge? A bank that takes maesto (Not too common here) I get a Gut feeling, that you want it all your own way. Not going to Happen my Friend. Dgte is as it is, neither you or me is ever going to change that. I will say this to you this though, trawl a little through some posts on this subject, not too long ago and you will find that there are 1 or 2 Banks here in dumaguete that do not Charge. Read a little about the Visa Card.


Jack P.

 

well, I transfer money in germany from my housebank to the PCI Equitable in frankfurt and withdraw it here no problem and no 200 peso fees. 7,50 Euro for each money transfer.what is more than reasonable if you transfer 5k

I also don't think 500 $ for visa in a year is a lot.
I dont know any country I would like to stay long term where I can stay 2 years as a tourist without any visa-issue.

In 2 years you would need to make multiple visa-runs which brings your costs way above 500 $ a year.

 

All bases Covered I think!

To me, (I have very few problems) all issues on this thread have, to my mind, been explored, explained and discussed to the degree where the majority are fairly happy. I would have thought that those who are not happy would have sat and thought, Maybe I am not doing it right. Maybe I, am missing something. We all come from different places and have our own methods of obtaining what we need. I use my UK bank to it's full and use transfer systems to credit here, not a lot of cost if done right. So I do not pay any surcharge on my ATM withdrawals unless I use the wrong Card at the wrong bank. No point me moaning about that though. I think it is Tom Bad that says, "Be The Change" Stop moaning and learn from all OUR mistakes.

On the Visa Side, I Got married.:p


Jack P.