My husband is under a “JFRV” and he would like to get a work permit. He has been under then “JFRV” for almost one year already. Will he have to pay the 20% even though he already has his ARC? And if he does have to pay the 20%, he will not be able to complete the 183 days within this tax year, so does that mean, he won’t get a refund next year?
The taxable year is January 1st to December 31st. Hence, regarding the 183 day figure, you have to be inside the country for 183 days in a year (or more) to be taxed at the lower rate.
Even if you are in the country every day beginning from January 1st, you do not reach the 183 day figure until early July.
However, if you qualify for this so-called (under the Income Tax Law) “resident” status, then you can carry that status directly into the following year, if you continue to live in Taiwan.
Whether you meet the “resident” status (under the Income Tax Law) is a separate consideration, and not related to your visa status.
Where do I find if he meets the “Resident” status for the income tax?
It is just a matter of counting the days.
What is usually done is to count the days outside of the ROC and subtract that from the total day figure, to determine the amount of days inside the ROC. (If you are inside the country for any part of one day, then that day counts.)
Let’s look at 2001, where Mr. Gilman Bates from Brazil is living in Taipei County. Let’s consider a calculation made on July 5, 2001. First we look at the months of 2001, January through June. That is 31 + 28 + 31 + 30 + 31 + 30 = 181. Then you have July 1 through 5, so 181 + 5 = 186. These are the total possible days up and including July 5.
However, Mr. Bates went to H.K. on Feb. 5 and returned on Feb. 11. He went to Australia on March 18 and returned on March 29. He went to the PRC on June 11 and returned on June 19.
We must subtract any days completely outside the ROC, hence “departure” and “arrival” days do not count as days outside the ROC. We look at the middle dates, hence (1) Feb. 6 to 10 is five days, (2) March 19 to 28 is ten days, (3) June 12 to 18 is seven days. Then 5 + 10 + 7 = 22.
Our original total of possible days in the country Jan. 1 to July 5 was 186, then subtracting 22 days yields 164. Hence, Mr. Bates has not yet reached the magic figure of 183 days (or more) on July 5. He needs about 19 more days.
Note: for those who are confused about whether days in the PRC are to be counted as days INSIDE THE COUNTRY, or days OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY, to my knowledge they are counted as being OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY, however I will continue to check with the relevant ROC government authorities to see if Mainland China is considered a part of the ROC or not, and whether the above calculation should be adjusted accordingly. I apologize for any convenience which this causes to the foreign community in Taiwan.