I’m legally hired, and will be working legally. I came in on the 30 day ‘visa free’ status, however, and this means that I’ll have to leave the country before my ARC is processed - affecting my 20% tax thing.
Now I don’t mind paying taxes (hey, I was paying 38% back in Australia), and I certainly have no intention of avoiding them. And I’m happy paying 20% for my first 183 days. But I did think I was going to be able to switch to the 10% rate after that 183 days without doing a visa run (I had been told that I could apply for the 60 day visa while I was in Taiwan - apparently not).
It just irks me that I was given the wrong information, and will now have to wait until the end of the year (paying 20% tax), then another 183 days after that to pay 10%, and still not get a refund. If there is a way to avoid this, I am up for it (as long as it’s legal, like Chinese lessons).
And there is no way around this? I am really annoyed, I thought I had this totally sorted, we booked our tickets specifically with this in mind, and arrived in Taiwan with plenty of time to get within the deadline, now we have to go out again and ruin it all.
[quote]Q: I am waiting to get to 183 days, but I have to leave the country, will that reset the count to zero?!
A: No. The counting is cumulative. If you stayed for 3 months, left for a month and came back, your first three months will still count toward your 183 days for that year.[/quote]
So a same day visa run return flight to HK might work? We arrived on June 29.
You need to be in Taiwan 183 days of the calendar year. Seeing as you arrived on June 29, you’re pushing it. Get out the calendar and start counting.
A same day visa run in HK might be possible but difficult. You’ll have to get to the office in the AM and pick up in the PM. I’m not sure they always do that. Check visa run topics - I’m sure the info is in their somewhere. The only problem is that it will limit you severely to what airlines you can take, and make the costs of your tickets higher. Finally, you should try and find out if the Tax Dept count a day that you arrived or a day that you left as one day. That could well make the difference.
Fortigurn, do you have a multiple entry visa? If not, your post is in the wrong thread for starters. If you do, don’t worry about leaving HK airport. Just transit right back to Taiwan - you won’t even have to clear HK customs and immigration. Actually, even if you don’t have a multiple entry visa, you can still pick up a landing visa at the airport for a nominal charge - I think it’s a grand or two, and they’ll give you a month’s stay. In that time, you should be able to finish up your ARC details, if the people processing your paperwork are on the ball. If not, you’ll have to do another run at the end of 30 days.
[quote=“Bu Lai En”]You need to be in Taiwan 183 days of the calendar year. Seeing as you arrived on June 29, you’re pushing it. Get out the calendar and start counting.
A same day visa run in HK might be possible but difficult. You’ll have to get to the office in the AM and pick up in the PM. I’m not sure they always do that. Check visa run topics - I’m sure the info is in their somewhere. The only problem is that it will limit you severely to what airlines you can take, and make the costs of your tickets higher. Finally, you should try and find out if the Tax Dept count a day that you arrived or a day that you left as one day. That could well make the difference.
Brian[/quote]
All good advice, thanks. I should have searched first, sorry.
I’ve been quoted the following price from Interlink:
[quote]Dragon Air - NT$ 8,800 including tax (same day return)
KA 481 TPE - HKG 1510 1645
KA 488 HKG - TPE 2145 2325[/quote]
That looks good to me, and it means I’m in and out of HK in one day. Perfect.
Yeah, sorry about that, I should have looked more carefully. Please move it or delete it if you feel that’s best.
I’m an Australian citizen, so I should be able to come in on the same ‘visa free’ status on which I first entered Taiwan. That gives me 30 days in the country, and I don’t even have to apply for a visa.
