It sounds like this company doesn’t quite know what it’s doing or doesn’t care.
Accountants are good at accounting. Ask a lawyer before proceeding with any dodgy scheme.
De facto employment or labor contracts are de jure employment or labor contracts, though the courts in Taiwan have trouble agreeing on where to draw the line.
Previous discussion of a similar situation:
Other options:
- marry a Taiwanese person
- spend five+ years doing other stuff in Taiwan in order to become a permanent resident (or citizen), or
- if you qualify, apply for a working holiday visa (but I don’t think this is possible right now due to covid, and depending on your nationality it might not give you a full year anyway).