I’m an American and plan on moving to Taiwan next year doing visa runs while working remotely for my company in the US. I understand I’ll be a tax resident after staying in TW for over half a year and will have to pay TW taxes. As for the US taxes while I’m abroad, I believe I can file form IRS Form 2555.
How does this work? Does it mean throughout the year I get deducted taxes from my paycheck and then at the end of the tax year I file the form and get a full refund of my US taxes, therefore being able to afford Taiwan taxes?
The form says I’ll need to include the visa that I entered Taiwan under. If it’s a series of visa-excluded entries, will I still be able to file this form? Does it also affect my employer if I’m not paying US taxes?
Will you have a work permit? If not then look into gold card. Technically you’re not allowed to work while in Taiwan. If you stay over 90 days you have to pay tax on worldwide salary prorated to days in Taiwan that year.
If you’re on a tourist visa doing Visa runs and not legally or illegally working for Taiwan company then you’re a tourist.
How is leaving every 90 days staying in Taiwan over half a year? You’re only staying 90 days at a time. You’re not meeting any qualifications as a resident and you’re not receiving any benefit like healthcare or something.
Don’t know how that would qualify for needing to pay taxes in Taiwan unless working legally or illegally and under the proper conditions.
I thougtht they look at the calendar year. If I’m in TW for a total of, say, 330 days, I thought that would make me a tax resident.
I understand visa runs is a common trick in TW for digital nomads. I wonder how they are able to pull it off.
Yes, but it doesn’t mean you have permission to engage in work. There are other forms of income taxes that don’t involve labour.
It’s illegal. Anyone working in Taiwan on a visa-free stamp is breaking the law. They are behaving contrary to the purposes of their visit and subject to removal. If you want to nomad, start a limited liability company in Taiwan. That’s the only way and there are no digital nomad visas in Taiwan.
As others have said, if you’re doing “visa runs” (actually entering visa-free each time) you’re a tourist, and not legally allowed to work, so I wouldn’t post about doing so here or anywhere else. You won’t be a tax resident here because you’re not legally residing or working here.
They pull it off by not getting caught. Probably not hard to do if you don’t post about it online or otherwise talk about it a lot. I assume they just pay taxes in their home country as a resident there who is taking frequent “vacations” to Taiwan.
Pretty clear we’re discussing employment income here, I thought, though I also wouldn’t see why anyone would pay taxes on investment income to a country they visited as a tourist.
(I’ve redacted a couple of parts because (i) the email wasn’t addressed to me, (ii) I’m not sure it should be shared, and (iii) I’m pretty sure this interpretation is wrong and I wouldn’t want to be the person testing it, but if the Taiwanese government doesn’t even have a consistent policy on this…)
The Ministry of Labor’s Labor Development Administration Letter No. 1070507378 dated November 27, 2017 states that as long as it does not affect the employment opportunities of nationals, it does not fall within the scope of Article 43 of this Law.
It lists the activities not within the scope of this Act and foreigners do not need to apply for a work permit.
It is divided into 5 categories: business activities, course internship or training activities, auxiliary service activities, general social activities and other activities that are not for the purpose of providing labor services to anyone in the country and do not hinder the employment opportunities of local people. The relevant categories are listed Appearance is the essential element for judgment.
If the behavior is not within the scope of the enumeration in the Ministry of Labor’s letter of explanation dated November 27, 2017, it should still be determined in accordance with the purpose of this law and the specific facts of the individual case.
you could ask to ministry of labor, workforce development agency. it may be very possible that they say you dont need a work permit for digital monad work. they have more authority than people here on the subject.
the letter lists some examples for each category, and says if your activity is not the one exactly listed in the letter, it is judged case by case. so, if i were you, i ask them.
If you plan to pay taxes in taiwan you might as well get the gold card since you seem to qualify. It comes with multiple benefits. The people doing visa runs also don’t pay taxes.
