Dazzer, in the years that both of us have used this forum, I have NEVER posted a comment to you - either directly or indirectly. I have on many occassions retaliated at you for the comments you direct to me first. Simple Cause and Effect.

I understand if Tiger is offended in some way because my post related to his comment of paying 17K/month for rent. However, my post does not violate GK rules because I am not making a personal attack at him like calling him dumbass which you are so famous for. A fool and his money are soon parted is a well known expression and it is appropriate in this case.

However, I fail to understand how any of this relates to you other than your simple hatred for a stranger you dislike but never met and your need to come to the rescue of others, who did not ask for your help.

Take your last comment for example - hey tiger ignore the dumbass we knew what you meant. Who is WE? We knew what you meant. Now you have ventured in the area of Mind Reading since you KNOW what others are thinking.

I am sure 100% of the members of this forum will agree with me that there is a huge difference between paying 17 K rent yourself or if someone else pays for it. I am sure many others will happily accept to live in a Villa if someone else is paying but they certainly will not pay for it themselves. I am also 100% certain that other forum members also understood tigers comment to mean that HE paid 17K, not an employer or anyone else - not until he clarified his statement in another post in reaction to my comment.

This thread is about renting a house vs an apartment. All my replies relate to this topic where your reply is about and toward HUGO.

Side Note: Not that I agree or understand Chinese thinking but when Chinese people see other chinese spend money and show off their conspicuous consumption they are NOT offended. But if they see a foreigner do the exact same thing then they bad mouth him.

I will turn 52 in a couple of months and in my book that is old. I am certain that you are much older than me so I suggest you begin to act your age and MYOB.

hey tiger, i am guessing you had a rental agreement with your name on it, you paid rent to the landlord from your bank, landlord gave you fapio with your name on it, then your company then paid you the housing allowance. correct?

That is correct. Legally, we paid the rent. For all intents and purposes, the employer paid the rent. Not black or white, as you said in a recent post.

@tigertiger: Interesting. If I recall correctly, the rent paid by you to the landlord is taxable income to you. If your employer pays the rent directly to the landlord, you do not have a tax issue.

Sounds a bit strange but I found information on how to gross up the amount given to the employee to cover the tax. My information is dated, 8 to 10 years, but I never did get resolved the issue of taxation on "paid housing allowance."

Different overseas employers have different policies on how they will pay allowances. But that is another story.

@Geezer @Tiger:

My information is that Tiger's case is valid (from point of Chinese tax law), if only the work contract mentions that housing allowance will be paid against fapiao.

The difference between employers' policies (whether they pay directly to landlord or pay allowance to employee), mostly relates to how this amount goes to the company's accounting, which then affects the company's taxes.