A ‘living in Dubai’ question

[irocfan]

Well as it says on the tin... I was hoping that some people on here with experience of living out there would be willing and able to give an idea of costs involved as well as possible pitfalls. I’m currently in the running for a position in Dubai and while the headline figure (ie tax-free salary) looks attractive the reality is that paying a mortgage here and then rental on a place out there really does take a huge chunk out of the perceived benefit. For info purposes I’ll be keeping my (mortgaged) house in the UK, I’m not a ‘party animal’ (hell I don’t even really drink) and would expect to be out there on my own about half the time (the other half Mrs Iroc will be out here – another cost to factor in being extra flights).

Having a quick look at the property pages it looks like a studio/1 bed apartment is running £1200 per month at the cheaper end of the scale – is this about right or is it the UAE equivalent of living in 1980’s Toxteth? Is public transport worthwhile both in terms of cost and reliability (longer term I would be looking at getting a car but obviously in the short term it’s one less thing to have to worry about). Talking of cars what’s the score with insurance out there as I understand driving standards are… ‘variable’. What sort of costs could I be looking at for a typical ‘weekly shop’? I guess another important question is how good is the internet out there, is it poor unless you pay through the nose or is it priced like in the UK?

Obviously overall I’m just looking at a costings overview as there is another good thread discussing other Dubai pitfalls

[irocfan]

shirt said:

Without wanting to sound rude there are loads of threads on this subject, use the search. Doesn't matter how old they are, same stuff still applies.

nah, no worries about being rude. I've worked for the Russians before - I laugh at your attempts at rudeness!!

[irocfan]

cheers DXB and Rich, exactly the thing I was looking for - I'm just doing a little bit of groundwork before doing anything hasty. I'd hate to get to the interview be asked something WRT to my expectations and fk it up! <grin>

[irocfan]

Mike Biddle said:

I notice that you intend to keep your UK property, you might want to check whether or not that endow you with sufficient connection to the UK for HMRC to class you as domiciled UK, and therefore liable to UK income tax on your Dubai income. The rules have changed a lot in the last few years so a chat with a tax adviser might be a good idea.

ouch!!! Now that would be an almighty spanner in the works!