I wonder if it is possible for foreigner (no Mandarin) to live in Taiwan on visitor visa and get paid via paypal doing freelance software/web dev work from sites like Upwork.
Anyone doing something like this? Would love to hear your experience
Lots of people do this. On a visitor visa itās technically not legal, but thereās also no way for Taiwan to know that you are working, so many people get away with it.
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i think on a visitor visa its ok, on a resident visa its for sure illegal.
visitors are basically tourists, with no obligations to pay any taxes here, and no rights to anything. if you come here for vacation and work on your laptop nobody minds.
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But OP said he wants to live on a visitor visa. By that Iām guessing he means visa runs, and then working in secret online. Definitely illegal.
If he was a resident, with open work rights, it would be legal as long as he paid taxes on it.
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Open a company. Then you can freelance all you want with official receipts.
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I dont know what OP wants to do and how long he plans to be here. Practically speaking, As long as its under 183 days a year, and the work is done for clients out of TW, he will not be a tax resident in any way and will not be breaking any laws.
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Thanks everyone for replying. And a bit of background, I am actually asking on my gfās behalf as I am Taiwanese, we are looking at spousal visa in the long run. And I am very glad this seems like a viable path for the immediate future. Of course we want to do things āproperlyā, but TWās work environment/visa/ARC process for foreigner just seems like a huge hassle.
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The other alternative would be trying to get a Gold Card which also includes an open work permit.
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Rethink that. Depends on how long you want to be a ātouristā in Taiwan.
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Visitors are tourists, they have no benefits from the state, nor are they obliged to pay anything here. The National Immigration Agency can deny entry if they think you are entering to work illegally in Taiwan, or if they think that your coming and going too much is suspicious. The Tax office can decide that you are a de-facto tax resident and start an investigation, even if you are on a visitor visa, if you are here more than 183 days a year. However, there is no regulation or law that I know of that limits visitors ability to work while on vacation here. if it is a 3 month visit to see your spouse / family its ok.
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Good luck.
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Visa running digital nomadry died in Feb 2020 in Taiwan. No timeline to the resumption of visa-free entry.
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Itās a grey area. If you are from a country that allows for visa-free 90-day stays as a visitor and assuming that there are no COVID restrictions in place, you can virtually just fly out as you approach the 90-day mark, stay overseas for a while and then come back for another 90 days. I know many who have gone on for years like this before COVID.
The main disadvantage is that you are a tourist so you cannot have anything on your name (home, vehicle, phone contract, bank account, etc.) and of course no NHI coverage. The latter can be solved with an international travel insurance, though expensive, and the former by registering everything on someone elseās name, although this requires a lot of trust and you would basically be at that personās mercy. A workaround can be to enrol to a Mandarin class for a few months, just enough to get an ARC and register everything that you need on your name before it expires. Vehicles, driving licences, bank accounts, etc. will remain on your name even after that.
[UPDATED]
Work is another grey area. Visitors are not allowed to work in Taiwan (aka for a Taiwanese employer), but there is nothing illegal in a tourist using his/her laptop to work for an overseas employer. However, as @Andrew wrote a few posts below, taxes need to be filed the following year if the (tax) residency period exceeds 90 days.
Back to your question, it is definitely possible (COVID restrictions apart) but not a long-term solution. Sooner or later, the day will come that NIA start questioning you on why you keep going in and out while spending most of the year in Taiwan. Keep in mind that the visa-free arrangement is subject to NIAās discretion and that you might suddenly be denied entry if they find your behaviour suspicious.
NOTE ON PAYPAL. I still believe (and Iām not throwing any affiliate code) that the best way to get paid for freelance work while living in Taiwan is a Wise account and its Mastercard to withdraw NTD from most ATMs.
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Itās 90 days beyond which Taiwan wants taxes for work physically performed here (at the non-resident rate, which sucks).
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I pay more on NHI than a travel insurance, and that is only the 30% of the total plus I have to pay went I go hospital some part too.
i didnt know that, good to learn something new.
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Good remark, actually, thanks. My consideration was based on the NHI premium that I pay, but being a GC holder with overseas employer Iām charged the lowest rate for some mysterious reason that I fail to understand.
Thanks for the remark @Andrew 
I updated my post accordingly.
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You can. I imagine it affected a lot of the COVID refugees here on extended visa-free stays, but no idea how many of them actually filed taxes. I also didnāt see anything by the government relating to that while they were issuing the repeated extensions, although it would seem to be required by the tax regulations.
Iāve also done it. I filed taxes here for the first time in 2021 (i.e., for 2020) after getting the gold card in early 2020. A few months later, the tax office e-mailed me to politely inquire about some previous tax years where Iād stayed over 90/183 days on visa exemptions but, erm, had forgotten to file (I was kind of expecting this). Curse my misunderstanding of Taiwanese tax rules. 
Got it sorted eventually and just had to pay a bit of interest. From what I understand, itās not generally made to become an illegal working/immigration problem, although I imagine it could be if they wanted to make an example of you. I also hadnāt worked for any local employers in Taiwan, so that probably made things a bit easier.
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Iām not sure if itās really ānothing illegalā. I think itās a gray area like you say, and youād have a hard time getting a solid response from any of the relevant government departments. IIRC, there have been one or two attempts to get a firm answer from the MOL or whoever about online/remote work based on the relevant regulations, but they seemed quite vague/non-committal.
I pretty much agree. Though I donāt have the card, so I use my Wise USD account details then transfer it to a multicurrency account here.
I think for many people coming to Taiwan, the gold card can be a bit of a barrier. Depending.