I am starting my own small company – GONG SU HANG HAU – and I will be the registered owner. Two snags:
Is it a conflict to own a company and make income from it while having a concurrent fulltime job? I work at a university, which supplies my work permit.
I want to leave my fulltime job and just run my company. In this case, how do I obtain a work permit? I do not think my GONG SU HANG HAU will be able to obtain a work permit for me, as it is new and does not have a huge capital reserve (or ANY capital reserve).
I have some answers to your questions and a few of my own questions.
No conflict unless your university knows and objects to you having your own business. I simply wouldn’t tell them and make sure it doesn’t impact your work at the university.
In order to have your company provide you a work permit you need the following things according to my meeting with Joseph Ni, an accountant:
1: NT$ 500,000 as start up capital (this has to come from outside Taiwan unless you can prove you made it legally in Taiwan)
2: A place to register as your business location (check out “This Month in Taiwan” or talk to tigerman)
3: Time, the whole set up takes 30 working days (that’s working days meaning holidays and weekends do not count only non-holiday Mondays to Fridays.) This is the shorter more expensive one where you set up an off shore company as your headquarters and have Taiwan as a branch office, but it costs an additional US$ 2,000. I don’t know how long it takes for a Taiwan headquartered business. The process of registering in Taiwan was NT$ 50,000 if you used Joseph Ni.
I'm not sure about setting up as a sole propietorship in Taiwan, but I will start researching it. The above mentioned was for a limited liability corporation(LLC). LLC's can provide up to 2 work permits.
As far as business visas, you have to be American (not sure if Canadians can get them) and apply for them in the US. They come in 1, 3, or 5 years. You get 60 days at a time that can be extended by Chinese lessons (compulsory or otherwise).
In case anybody is interested…I have done enough research to know that setting up a company in Taiwan is easy. As for the issue of capital reserve, that is not necessary for a locally operating company (HANG HAU). It is only necessary for a large entity such as a Limited company. And in that case, accountants will put up the capital money in a bank account themselves and use that account when they apply for the business license. Thus, one does not need any capital at all.
Anyway, the only issue remaining for me is the wsork permit. I need to set up a company that will be able to obtain a work permit for me. For that information, I need to consult a lawyer. When I know what kind of company can provide a work permit, I will ask the accountant to set up that kind of company.
Thus, it seems I need no capital reserve, and no need to leave the country for any work permit / ARC related issue.
I found an American who set up two companies in the way explained above, set them up quickly and obtained permission to apply for 3 work permits for each company (so he could take care of his wife and a friend, as well, or whatever). The key seems to be consulting a lawyer to find out what kind of company to set up.
While it may be true that you can get a work visa through your own company, there are certain restrictions and conditions you should be aware of.
An off-shore company with a branch office in Taiwan can get you one work permit valid for two years for a branch manager, and a resident permit for legal representative, who does not need a work permit to work for the company. You need 1m NT$ as working capital which must be sent in from abroad, and apparently it is a criminal offence to afterwards remove it from the business.
However, the tax office and other officials will expect to see income tax and VAT returns every six months - 1 year. If they suspect that you are using the company as a front for residency, they will close you down. They expect that branch offices of off-shore companies are here to make money and do business.
For more information, I can recommend Joseph Ni of Good Earth Accountancy. You can find their details advertised in the Taipei Times frequently. He help me set up my own company and was very good.
Is that it? Is that all :!: :?: I’ve been pissing about working for other people when I could have sponsored myself to be here?
This is a classic case of someone (me) getting too wrapped up in the small details of making a day-to-day living to think abou the big picture.
You start a subsiduary of an overseas company? You mean like a British Ltd for less than a hundred quid? Then you just open a branch office here and get yourself a work permit?
You just need to produce some money first to show that you’re in good financial standing? That is fucking ALL?!?! Excuse my french. What the hell have I been doing for the last 12 months?
Let me get this straight. A company is expected to invest some money, so it has to bring the money with it when it starts up. Is it expected to just sit on the money? No, it must be expected to spend it on something - such as set-up fees, premises, marketing, salary, etc. These are all things you need to spend money on anyway. Anything left over can presumably be spent on buying the rights to use intellectual property - the name, material, logo etc that they will use and which is owned by your head office.
So I open a company that is a franchise of a UK company, and circulate the money necessary to get myself an ARC, then I teach legally as a ‘consultant’ to any company I can sell myself to?
This sounds too easy. This sounds too good to be true. This sounds like fun
Well, you still have to find the clients, the people to actually pay the money to your company. But if what I read above is true then there is really no legal obstacle to giving it a go.
Can somebody please tell me I’m wrong, before I go lining up contracts I can’t fulfil without being arrested?
Does anyone have any more information on this? I already have my own company in Australia so can easily set up a local subsidiary of that company in Taiwan? What is involved with this…
Have read the archives and did not see the answer.
I want to set up a LOCAL company through the cheapest and fastest route. So what kind of company would that be and what would the requirements be? How would I apply for an ARC and work permit? My wife is Taiwanese and I currently have a ARC and work permit but not based on marriage.
How about tax? How would tax be handled? Who to pay to and when?
The cheapest, fastest route is to use a local accountant to set up your company. They will typically charge NT$5000 or so to get your business license and another NT$2k/month to help with your books. Their service is usually fast and efficient, but they won;t have time to explain everything to you and you will need to speak good Chinese to deal with them. Another disadvantage is that if you want to get a work permit through your new business, the accountant will not know how to do this.
If you need more help in English and help with a work permit, see an English speaking lawyer.
I went to the County government office for registering companies and to the labor office. I showed them my ARC and my OWP. They said that as a foreigner I was not allowed to register a company.
" Bring us your spouse"
What authority/office did you register your company with? praytell
An accountant you can use to set up your company in Taipei is Ms. Liao at 2560-2066. I doubt she speaks any English. She has experience setting up bars and restaurants. Don’t know if she’s ever handled anything through the Investment Commission.
In this thread, forumosa.com/3/viewtopic.php?t=3 … ness+start someone mentioned Ann Hu at Universal Law/CPA, I have searched high and low for her contact details and also have tried to find the phone numbers for her office today, to no avail. The oriented directory does not list them. If anyone has her office’s contact details please post them here.
Has anyone tried using this Ms. Liao to set up a business? I want to set up a Cafe in Taipei. Can you recomend anyone else? I have been talking to a Lawyer called Racheal Chiao. She said she will help me but was a bit vague on how much the whole process would cost. I’ll keep you posted on what happens with her.
Is that all :!: :?: I’ve been pissing about working for other people when I could have sponsored myself to be here?
