Compare · Philippines vs United States
Philippines vs United States for Australians leaving home
Philippines:Territorial taxAU tax treatyUnited States:Worldwide taxAU tax treaty
The regimes are genuinely different: Philippines is a territorial tax system while United States runs worldwide tax, which of your income streams each one actually touches matters more than any headline rate.
Both have a tax treaty with Australia, so either way you get a tie-breaker if the ATO contests your departure, and capped withholding (15%/10% vs 15%/10% on unfranked dividends/interest).
Philippines is the cheaper place to live day to day, roughly 45% of Sydney's basket against United States's 115% (indicative, ex-rent), which can outweigh a thinner tax saving over a full household budget.
Personalise this, enter your numbers once and every figure below becomes yours: “your estimated income tax: $14,200”, not “0, 22%”. Open the Country Comparison tool →
| 2 destinations | PhilippinesPhilippines | United StatesUnited States |
|---|---|---|
| Tax | ||
| Regime | territorial, worldwide income not taxed | worldwide, taxes worldwide income |
| Income tax on salary | Progressive 0, 35% on Philippine-source compensation and business income; the 35% band starts at PHP 8m (~A$216k). | Federal 10, 37% plus state tax (0, 13.3%) plus FICA (7.65% employee side). A US$150k salary in California pays roughly 30%+ combined; in Texas closer to 24%. |
| Capital gains | Foreign share gains: not taxed for resident aliens. Philippine listed shares: 0.6% stock transaction tax on gross sale. Unlisted Philippine shares: 15% CGT. (0% typical) | Long-term (12+ months) federal rate 0/15/20% plus 3.8% NIIT above ~US$200k income; short-term gains at full ordinary rates. States tax gains as ordinary income, California adds up to 13.3%. (15% typical) |
| Dividends | Foreign dividends: outside the Philippine net for resident aliens. Philippine dividends: 10% final withholding. | Qualified dividends at 15% (20% top). Australian franking credits are invisible to the IRS, franked dividends are just taxable income with a credit for the AU WHT. |
| Interest | Generally untaxed locally | Taxed locally around 24% |
| Crypto | No dedicated crypto tax rules: BIR guidance treats trading profits as taxable income when Philippine-source. Offshore-exchange gains of a resident alien are foreign-source and outside the net, but documentation matters. | Crypto is property: every disposal (including spending and swaps) is a capital gains event, short-term gains at ordinary rates, long-term at 0/15/20%. Broker reporting to the IRS is now systematic. |
| Australia tax treaty | Yes, AU withholding capped at 15% dividends / 10% interest, tie-breaker available | Yes, AU withholding capped at 15% dividends / 10% interest, tie-breaker available |
| Social security | SSS/PhilHealth apply to local employment; retirees and remote workers on their own income are outside them. | FICA (6.2% social security capped + 1.45% Medicare uncapped) applies to US employment; a totalisation agreement with Australia prevents double super/social security in most postings. |
| Visa | ||
| Best pathways |
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| Visa ease | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Family on visas | Dependants covered on main pathways | Dependants covered on main pathways |
| Fastest timeline | ~0 months on the quickest pathway | ~2 months on the quickest pathway |
| Money | ||
| Rent (family home, monthly) | $2,000/mo | $7,500/mo |
| Rent (couple, monthly) | $1,100/mo | $4,500/mo |
| International school (per child/yr) | $14,000 | Free / local system viable |
| Health cover (family/yr) | $4,500 | $20,000 |
| Cost of living vs Sydney | 45% of Sydney (ex-rent) | 115% of Sydney (ex-rent) |
| Relocation one-off | ~$12,000 | ~$30,000 |
| Flights home (return, pp) | $1,300 | $2,000 |
| Life | ||
| Timezone vs AEST | 2h behind | 18h behind |
| Flight from Sydney | ~8.5 hours | ~13.5 hours |
| English | 9/10 | 10/10 |
| Safety | 5/10 | 6/10 |
| Healthcare | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Schooling | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Climate | Tropical with a serious typhoon season (June, November); Manila is hot, humid and flood-prone. | Continental spread, LA is 20, 28°C and sunny most of the year; pick your city, pick your climate. |
Costs, rates and visa figures are country-module data marked indicative until individually verified; FX and rental markets move constantly.
Honest downsides, side by side
Every destination hub on this site carries its downsides in the open. Here are both lists together, because the right question is rarely “which is better?” and usually “which set of problems would you rather live with?”
Philippines
- Infrastructure is the weak point: Manila traffic is globally infamous, power and internet reliability vary, and healthcare outside top private hospitals is thin.
- Safety requires judgment, petty crime in cities, and entire regions (western Mindanao) under standing government travel warnings.
- Typhoons are not an abstraction: multiple significant hits per year, with flooding even in metro Manila.
- Foreigners cannot own land (condos yes, land no), long-term settling means leases or a Filipino spouse's title.
- The banking system is parochial: moving money in is easy, opening accounts and moving it out less so.
United States
- This is a move for career and earnings, not tax, combined federal + state + FICA in a coastal city will roughly match or exceed your Australian rate.
- Healthcare is tied to employment and ruinously expensive without it; a family plan's premiums and deductibles can exceed A$25k/year of exposure.
- The IRS relationship is sticky: green card holders are taxed on worldwide income for life until formal surrender, and FBAR/FATCA reporting on Australian accounts carries brutal penalties for innocent omissions.
- Your superannuation is a US tax problem: no treaty article clearly protects it, and treatment (foreign grantor trust? employee trust?) is unsettled, specialist advice is non-optional.
- Gun violence, litigation culture and the cost of failure (no safety net) are real quality-of-life deductions Americans price in and Australians don't.
Make this comparison yours
The table above shows the general figures. Enter your income and family once and the tax rows become your numbers, “your estimated income tax in Manila/Cebu: $14,200”, not a range.