Hello everyone,
I will head to Shanghai next week and my company (from U.S) agrees to reimburse for temporary accommodation and meal up to 15 days before I found a place. My company does not specify the amount. Are there daily upper limits as to this expense for tax purpose? Normally how much would the company pay?
Thanks a lot!

Only your company can tell you what the limits are. The only thing you can take for granted is that there are limits.

Senior executives at my company get a $1,000 per day allowance. Normal management gets 750 RMB.

Tell them you want a suite at the Hilton, or a 5 star hotel where you get a company discount, plus the cost of meals in the hotel.

Tell them u need 30 days, unlikely u will find a good apartment at a good price in 15 days unless you have an angelic agent.

^ And then watch how soon they fire you.

hihij wrote:Hello everyone,
I will head to Shanghai next week and my company (from U.S) agrees to reimburse for temporary accommodation and meal up to 15 days before I found a place. My company does not specify the amount. Are there daily upper limits as to this expense for tax purpose? Normally how much would the company pay?
Thanks a lot!

15 days is awful short to make it happen.

Not really. Most multinationals only pay for two weeks and then expect you to have your own place.

By the way I have an angelic estate agent. He has accounts with Price Waterhouse Coopers and other multi-nats but also helps the little people (like us). He speaks excellent English and has incredible after sales service (4 years after for us). I would love to recommend him to you. He won't cheat you and will find exactly what you are looking for and where. We gave him our location, budget and requirements and found a place in a week. We eventually chose the first one we looked at but he found us around 10 places that would have done it. Bruce Dong - 15821116207 mob.

Most multinationals offer 4 weeks, but 6 is possible, especially if they know about real estate practices in Shanghai. A couple of thousand more for living in a hotel longer is nothing compared to how much they'll lose in a bad apartment deal. Typical real estate agents ALWAYS push the crap first (over priced, too large, has problems, noisy neighbors) and prey on your desire to find a place fast.

all i know incl myself got 4 weeks to find a place.. thats what u should go for. 2 weeks is not enough to find the right place.

CoffeeHawk_0 wrote:Most multinationals offer 4 weeks, but 6 is possible, especially if they know about real estate practices in Shanghai. A couple of thousand more for living in a hotel longer is nothing compared to how much they'll lose in a bad apartment deal. Typical real estate agents ALWAYS push the crap first (over priced, too large, has problems, noisy neighbors) and prey on your desire to find a place fast.

I've been here a long time - 11 years - and I've met all kinds of agents. Typically, they can try to screw you for their fee. They don't always though, so don't assume. However, like I said above, Bruce is really a star. You absolutely cannot go wrong with him.

Thank you all for the information. I guess I will try to power through this housing thing in 15 days....