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Philippines: US INCOME TAX RETURN:
I have run into several problems with filing your taxes with Turbo Tax. If you live in a foreign country and file USA taxes, and you are married to a foreign spouse that does not have a TIN with the IRS, then you may have problems. There were only two valid IRS tax preparers in the Philippines a few years ago when I looked for one.
I would go to the IRS website and download and read 2016 Publication 54 US Citizens Living in Foreign Country. If this does not help you out, then there are several other publications that may help.
Hope this helps, RAC
Philippines: How to keep the aircon "ON" during brown outs:
Buy a large generator capable of running the air-con and fridges. Stay away from the China gensets because they have a design flaw and will break down shortly after running the unit. Also they are turned up to as fast as they run and don't work well when the load is increased on and off. They use cast aluminum and it is not strong enough to resist the vibration of the unit, cracking is a short time. I tell you this out of experience. Being a mechanic for some 30 years I had to do corrective work on the unit, including the wiring for proper operation. You may save money, but it will cost you in the long run with the grief of repairs.
There is another option that involves an online solar unit with backup batteries, but this will cost you substantially more than a genset.
Hope this helps, RAC
Philippines: Visa when married to a Filipno:
Brian,
You can go several ways. If you wife has her passport, then she could travel to Hong Kong and meet you there. Have her bring a certified copy of your Philippine Marriage License with her. Then the two of you can reenter together and you can get a Bilkyaban Visa on entry. Sorry, don't know the correct spelling of the word. LOL I am not sure of the term of the visa, but at least a year I think.
Or, you can just come here on a visitor visa and then apply for a 13a visa. It is not too complicated, but will run you at least 8,000PhP by the time you are done. This will include document copies, certifications, notary services and the visa costs. The first year if granted is probationary, then two months before it expires you go back to immigration and do the process all over again. It is much faster the second time and will be permanent for about five years then they review it and Icard. After that you will only have to file your annual report in Jan. of Feb. of each year.
You will want to inquire with immigration about traveling out of the country and see what they say for the length of time you can be gone before you have go thru the process again.
Hope this helps, RAC
Philippines: Building a house. Air conditioner help:
I used a 1hp unit here which is equivalent to less than .25 ton in the USA. it ate electric like crazy until I replaced it with a 2.5 hp split inverter unit. I saved 3k on the electric bill the first month of use. The 1 hp was not big enough to overcome the daily thermal heating of the room. The 2.5 seemed overkill at the time, but turned out to be better at controlling the heat buildup in the room. Make sure it is an inverter type of unit. They use a lot less power than a non-inverter unit because it converts the power to 12 or 24 volts for the unit and the compressor runs on 220v, thus saving the power of running the fans and controls. Hope this helps, RAC
Philippines: process for duel citizenship:
If you are thinking of owning property here, becoming a Philippine Citizen will not help you with that. If you read the laws here you will see the words "Natural Born Filipino" in a lot of them. Unless you were born here, you can not own more than 40% if anything, except a condo. If you put the land in your Philippine spouses name and he/she passes away the property pass to her relatives, not the expat. The Philippines is not like the USA where anyone can own anything. it is just something you give up to live in this beautiful paradise. Hope this helps. RAC
Philippines: USDA Organic:
Hello All,
I would be very careful with the use of "Seven" on produce. "Seven" is a systemic bug killer, which means it goes into the soil and is taker into the actual plant itself and becomes part of the plant and fruit and vegetables on it. If you want to grow veggies then use "Malathion" to spray the plants for pests. It will wash off with the rains but it is non-systemic to the plants and will not poison the fruits and vegetables. "Seven" is great if you are not growing consumable crops, "Malathion" is for topical use spraying. Use protective gear when spraying both, including a mask, they both will make you sick if they are inhaled or make contact on the skin. Take a good shower afterwards to be sure to get all the over-spray off you.
Hope this helps, RAC
Philippines: Metal roofing question:
Hello Standupguy,
Due to the type of construction they do here in the Philippines, they would have the added expense of framing the roof with studs in order to hang the plywood on them for proper support, before adding the sheet metal roofing. If you do construct that way, then it would be advisable to place a layer of 90 pound asphalt felt to water proof the installation. Plywood here does not stand up to the heat and humidity, not to mention the insects that will eat it almost as fast as you put it up. Most wood here used for construction is non-dimensional lumber with a nail or two holding it in place. That is why you see most structures and furniture made of cement, steel, glass and plastic to resist the elements here.
I have seen some installations here with a 1 inch reflective backed cellulose foam rolled insulation on them. This is the same type used for insulation on metal buildings in the USA and helps a bit with heat reduction, but contains very little R value. Plywood also has a very little R value. Attic insulation is not used also due to moisture and animal infestations in the attic.
They also do not engineer ventilation into the roofs to relieve the heat buildup during the day and the thermal loading from it in the building. The biggest consideration here is the wind blown rain they have that comes in every crack in the roof occasionally.
Most concrete block homes here are not insulated at all and are just big thermal mass retainers that can heat up all day and then cool off at night. The masonry construction is also sub-standard with bad block, sand, gravel and Portland cement being used. The sand has to be clean in order to provide proper adhesion of the cement to sand. Sand containing no salts or contaminates should be used. Most is beach sand and thus contaminated with salts that affect the cement used to bind the mix together. They also use larger than normal sand and smooth round gravel for mortar and concrete pours thus decreasing the strength.
The steel here is expensive, so they use smaller sizes and/or less of it to save costs in building the structure. The cement mixes are done in small hand batches on the ground and the strength varies from batch to batch. Most block here can be crumbled by hand and lacks strength. The steel placed in the block walls is not tied properly or cored into the wall for strength, so the strength of the wall is also questionable.
Hope this helps, RAC, CBO
Philippines: 13A visa/social security:
It never had any effect on mine. I still hold a USA address though. My understanding is I could have my SSA checks direct deposit to a Philippine account.
Hope this helps, RAC
Philippines: Planning to live in Manila in February 2015:
Hello Fred,
Unfortunately, here in the Philippines the level of medical services is relatively moderate. The only place you will find any kind of higher services is Manila's larger hospitals. They are very expensive and if they operate like here in Cebu, you will have to pay everything upfront when requesting services. You will also need someone to stay there with you, since they are your feet to run errands and get what the doctors order for services and med's. Usually you are not allowed to leave the hospital until the bill is paid in full.
As for insurance, you will be hard pressed to get health insurance here. In my research for insurance I was enlightened to the fact that insurance is not available to people 60 to 65 years old and older. If you have USA originated insurance then it will be up to you to collect from them any expenses you incur here that are covered. I have some coverage under PhilHealth that pays about 25% of a hospital stay.
Ambulances here do not provide BLS or ALS services, just transportation to a facility. Nothing like America. And if you are farther than 30 minutes driving time from a hospital then your golden hour will be gone, before you get the needed treatment. They services are not to the level of a trauma center as in the US hospitals where services are right now.
The maintenance med's, you need, will have to come from a doctor here where you reside that you can visit and get your needed prescriptions or generics you require. The drugs here are a lot less expensive than brand named products. There is just about one drug store on every block, so getting your med's is easy. I was lucky the first time in the hospital I found a good Cardiologist and Internal Medicine doctor to treat me.
If you are paying out of pocket for health insurance in the USA, the money for the cancelled policy, you can save and may be enough to save in an account here for your medical needs. An example of medical here would be a replacement hip in the USA will cost you 50,000 to 60,000USD in the hospital, in the Philippines it will run you about 10,000USD cash or about 450,000 Ph pesos.
If you are 72yo now, SSA will not pay anything in medical here in the Philippines. If you plan is to come here and live out the rest of your life in paradise, then be flexible in your needs and not try and live forever.
I hope this help you out, RAC
Philippines: Leaving Philippines:
Make sure you check the back, bottom of your ACR Card for the words "This card serves as re-entry permit (rp) or special return certification (SRC)". This will help you with your returning to the Philippines and not needing a exit ticket when traveling here. You can go to immigration to get your exit visa, all they do is check to see if your stay was legal and you pay their fee and they give you the exit visa. When you get to the airport to depart, go and pay your departure fees and then check in at the boarding area. It is really quite simple. Also remember to keep your passport up to date and valid for at least six months when traveling here. A friend of mine just came here for a week and it cost him $3,000.00 Australian Dollars because they refused to allow him to board because of the six month rule. He had two months left on his PP and he had to pay immigration renewal fees and new flight fees because they would not refund his booked flights and he had to get new ones the next day. Hope this helps. RAC
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