Well, I would if I did it set up a representative office as well, and then have the local limited, getting my work permit through the representative office.
I only made a turnover of NT$3 million in my fourth year of business.
Mr. He: This is useful information. I guess it will depend on the nature of the business. I understand that the markup on coffee and food sold at a cafe is very high. If so, it might well be worth running a business with a gross of NT$3 million. I suppose that’s why see so many people setting up cafes.
There is another reason to that people set up cafes. You do not need to invent a business model. You basically own the job of being a cafe manager, with some extra decision making powers thrown in.
In my industry, margins are limited, I would think that I in the fourth year of business netted NT$40k a month. If I were still on that level, I would look for a job, however in the startup and learning phase, it’s OK. Then again, I was and am playing a long game.
There is another reason to that people set up cafes. You do not need to invent a business model. You basically own the job of being a cafe manager, with some extra decision making powers thrown in.
In my industry, margins are limited, I would think that I in the fourth year of business netted NT$40k a month. If I were still on that level, I would look for a job, however in the startup and learning phase, it’s OK. Then again, I was and am playing a long game.[/quote]
Thanks. Another great point.
The first time you run a business, you learn, may not earn.
Hi guys,
I’m not sure if there is a thread on my situation as I’ve already searched through the forum - but if there is, please let me know!
My wife and I plan on making an online business within the service industry. Since I will be receiving my JFRV via marriage with Taiwanese citizen/resident by the next week, I understand that I won’t have any work permit issues. So as I understand it, from reading through this thread, I won’t be needing any capital reqs for the formation of my company (correct me if I’m wrong).
As to getting started in obtaining a business license, what is the process in my case? Do I go straight to a lawyer for all the paper work? What would be my average quote? Would it be cheaper for my wife to go to a local lawyer? Are there any significant drawbacks for doing the latter as a US citizen with little to no understanding of the Chinese language? I figured my wife would translate most of the papers/rules/regs with the best of her abilities, however.
There are no capital requirements.
If you are here in Taiwan already, you can either set up the company yourself with the information in Elias Ek’s useful book plus the information on the Invest in Taiwan site.
Alternatively, get help from an English-speaking accountant such as JusRegal. It’s much cheaper than going to a lawyer and they do a good job.
Lawyers are more useful if you are outside Taiwan and the investor is a corporation. I wouldn’t recommend randomly hiring a Taiwanese lawyer. Most are not business lawyers. Another situation in which a lawyer is a good idea is if you have a group of investors. In that case, you probably need advice on shareholder agreements and structuring things properly. If you are a US citizen, it would be a good idea to consult a US lawyer or CPA about US tax issues.
Good luck–and make sure you understand Taiwanese law on return and refunds if you are doing an online business.
[quote=“kimcheese”]Hi guys,
I’m not sure if there is a thread on my situation as I’ve already searched through the forum - but if there is, please let me know!
My wife and I plan on making an online business within the service industry. Since I will be receiving my JFRV via marriage with Taiwanese citizen/resident by the next week, I understand that I won’t have any work permit issues. So as I understand it, from reading through this thread, I won’t be needing any capital reqs for the formation of my company (correct me if I’m wrong).
As to getting started in obtaining a business license, what is the process in my case? Do I go straight to a lawyer for all the paper work? What would be my average quote? Would it be cheaper for my wife to go to a local lawyer? Are there any significant drawbacks for doing the latter as a US citizen with little to no understanding of the Chinese language? I figured my wife would translate most of the papers/rules/regs with the best of her abilities, however.[/quote]
Thank you for the response.
[quote=“Feiren”]There are no capital requirements.
If you are here in Taiwan already, you can either set up the company yourself with the information in Elias Ek’s useful book plus the information on the Invest in Taiwan site.
Alternatively, get help from an English-speaking accountant such as JusRegal. It’s much cheaper than going to a lawyer and they do a good job.
Lawyers are more useful if you are outside Taiwan and the investor is a corporation. I wouldn’t recommend randomly hiring a Taiwanese lawyer. Most are not business lawyers. Another situation in which a lawyer is a good idea is if you have a group of investors. In that case, you probably need advice on shareholder agreements and structuring things properly. If you are a US citizen, it would be a good idea to consult a US lawyer or CPA about US tax issues.
Good luck–and make sure you understand Taiwanese law on return and refunds if you are doing an online business.
[quote=“kimcheese”]Hi guys,
I’m not sure if there is a thread on my situation as I’ve already searched through the forum - but if there is, please let me know!
My wife and I plan on making an online business within the service industry. Since I will be receiving my JFRV via marriage with Taiwanese citizen/resident by the next week, I understand that I won’t have any work permit issues. So as I understand it, from reading through this thread, I won’t be needing any capital reqs for the formation of my company (correct me if I’m wrong).
As to getting started in obtaining a business license, what is the process in my case? Do I go straight to a lawyer for all the paper work? What would be my average quote? Would it be cheaper for my wife to go to a local lawyer? Are there any significant drawbacks for doing the latter as a US citizen with little to no understanding of the Chinese language? I figured my wife would translate most of the papers/rules/regs with the best of her abilities, however.[/quote][/quote]
I am now halfway (?) through the process and have all the documents in hand for the company registration. I used the one-stop website for the name application and intend to use it for corporate registration too. Does anyone have experience with this? (i.e. is there any part that will make it impossible for foreigners to complete the process online?)
I am a foreigner and own a Taiwanese limited liability company. I now want to start a 50/50 Joint Venture company with a Taiwanese-owned company. For this new venture, do we need to go through the Foreign Investment Committee again or does this count as investment by two local partners (since my company is a local entity)?
Has anyone been in a similar situation before?
I know it’s 7 years after but did you manage to register company trough one stop website by yourself?
There are two pinned threads about this, but the useful one is 14 years old at this point. I think rather than replying there with my questions, it would be better if I start a new thread, and update its first post (this one) as I go through the process, so we have an up-to-date guide.
[This space reserved for future updates.]
I’ll write a guide here covering some of the following:
- business registration
- permits needed for a brick and mortar business
- how to find contractors for building renovations
- payroll setup and services
- anything else I encounter
(I’ll be posting my own initial questions in a moment. Please stand by 
)
3 Likes
It also varies as far as what’s required, your immigration status, and scale.
Taiwan citizens can spend maybe 50000 on a cart stand and operate at a night market, not much else required.
Or if you’re opening a real restaurant or cafe and you need it to give you an arc, will require a lot more.
From what I gather, the general process is this:
- Register the company name / form the entity (here)
- Get approval for foreign investment (not sure yet how this works)
- Open the bank account
I should probably hire an accountant to do 1 & 2, or at least 2.
I’m reading this can take 1.5 months. Not sure if that’s still true. I also know that the place I want to rent out would be taken by then…
The next set of issues is with opening a brick & mortar location. I found a place that is a great fit, using 591.com, but the real estate agent says that I need to register with the Dept of Urban Development and the Construction Management Office, to get approval for opening a business. As well as a fire code inspection. He recommended I have an architect help (I don’t plan any actual construction/renovation, beyond new carpeting and lighting), and the space was used for business before. At this point I’m not sure how to tackle these.
Later down the road I’ll need to figure out hiring/payroll/compliance. In the US I’ve used a company called Gusto which handles paying employees and filing quarterly and annual reports with the govt, for dirt cheap (way less than an accountant) – will need to see if there’s something similar here.
2 Likes
Marco made this first post a wiki, so I’ll be editing it to include a step-by-step on how to form a business, as I navigate it myself.
I’ve got JusRegal CPA helping me, but it’s still confusing and difficult.
Main problems so far:
-
You need an address to register the company with. It can’t be your home, because then your landlord will be hit with higher taxes, and you need their signed consent. You can set up a virtual office (which seems to be an annual commitment) for the two months (!) it’ll take to get set up, but you can’t use a virtual office if you seek exemption from issuing uniform invoices.
-
The whole uniform invoices thing is a cluster-f. The only two options seem to be filling out a half-page form by hand (or possibly printing on top of it), or issuing them using a POS system, which is overkill. The POS companies want to sell you an iPad or a computer, their software, monthly fees, etc. I’d have my own POS software because it’s an industry-specific software package, but it wouldn’t support Taiwan’s invoice madness. So I’m going to have to use two systems for every purchase so I can electronically transmit the details before printing the receipt?? I can’t find something simple or the technical specs like an API.
I used the govt business lookup site to check other businesses in my industry and all of them are operating as sole proprietorships, and are exempt from issuing invoices. But that seems kinda crazy to me, to not limit your personal liability.
- Assuming I can personally sign a lease before registering the company, either to avoid a virtual office or because I’m not allowed to use one, then I’m stuck paying for that while I wait for the company setup to go through.