Reality: Employer is deducting taxes, but not forwarding any to the tax office.
Truth: Taxes are too high for foreign workers in Taiwan.
Reality: You don’t really have to do your tax return. If you figure you come out even or much better, forget about it. When you hop on the plane, aint no one gonna know the difference.
[quote=“j99l88e77”]Reality: Employer is deducting taxes, but not forwarding any to the tax office.
Truth: Taxes are too high for foreign workers in Taiwan.
Reality: You don’t really have to do your tax return. If you figure you come out even or much better, forget about it. When you hop on the plane, aint no one gonna know the difference.[/quote]
I would like to spend one day on this site without seeing you talk shit.
Employer is deducting taxes, but not forwarding any to the tax office. - it happened to me once, in five years. I went to see them. They gave me the money back, no question. Everyone else, and I have a lot of p/t jobs, has been straight with me.
Truth: Taxes are too high for foreign workers in Taiwan. - most taxes are the same for resident foreign workers as they are for locals. ie extremely low.
Reality: You don’t really have to do your tax return. If you figure you come out even or much better, forget about it. When you hop on the plane, aint no one gonna know the difference. - if you want to renew your work permit you have to produce your certificate of tax paid. If you don’t pay your taxes you either leave the country or stay illegally.
In addition, you have to show some income or source of funds from overseas if you want to stay here for any length of time. You may choose to hide some of what you earn, but you have to have a legal job and the chances are that you’re going to have paid taxes on that income. In most cases doing your tax returns gets you a refund on some of the already low taxes you’ve already paid.
[quote=“tmwc”][quote=“j99l88e77”]Reality: Employer is deducting taxes, but not forwarding any to the tax office.
Truth: Taxes are too high for foreign workers in Taiwan.
Reality: You don’t really have to do your tax return. If you figure you come out even or much better, forget about it. When you hop on the plane, aint no one gonna know the difference.[/quote]
I would like to spend one day on this site without seeing you talk shit.
Employer is deducting taxes, but not forwarding any to the tax office. - it happened to me once, in five years. I went to see them. They gave me the money back, no question. Everyone else, and I have a lot of p/t jobs, has been straight with me.
Truth: Taxes are too high for foreign workers in Taiwan. - most taxes are the same for resident foreign workers as they are for locals. ie extremely low.
Reality: You don’t really have to do your tax return. If you figure you come out even or much better, forget about it. When you hop on the plane, aint no one gonna know the difference. - if you want to renew your work permit you have to produce your certificate of tax paid. If you don’t pay your taxes you either leave the country or stay illegally.
In addition, you have to show some income or source of funds from overseas if you want to stay here for any length of time. You may choose to hide some of what you earn, but you have to have a legal job and the chances are that you’re going to have paid taxes on that income. In most cases doing your tax returns gets you a refund on some of the already low taxes you’ve already paid.[/quote]
Truth: You have a stick up your ass
Reality: Truth hurts
The fact that a boss of yours didn’t forward your taxes in the past proves my point.
Taxes are too high. What are they? 13%? 20% in the beginning and after 6 months, 6%. Maybe they’re 6% for the duration of your contract. I still find that too high. And is it this fixed amount? Why is it a fixed amount? That’s strange.
Providing a certificate of tax paid when renewing will only make your boss pay taxes. So, nothing to worry about. All other cases, just hop on the plane and go wherever you want to go.
Not talking about working illegally. Just contracts. If you’re working illegally, I sure hope you’re not stupid enough to pay taxes.
Not so. The Tax department doesn’t care if your employer pays their taxes or not. You want the tax certificate, you need to pay the taxes. If you say that you have paid your taxes through your employer and your employer hasn’t filed, too bad, they will still require you to pay up front and sort out your own problems.
The Truth: This thread could have been useful
The Reality: It has attracted a lot of crap posts.
I was not really reading everything so I dont know if I agree with you or not - but that was sure funny.
[quote=“Ian_Alexander”][quote=“j99l88e77”]
Truth: You have a stick up your ass
Reality: Truth hurts
[/quote]
I was not really reading everything so I dont know if I agree with you or not - but that was sure funny.[/quote]
Um, no, it sounds moronic. Do people really use that phrase?
Well, yes, you can hop on a plane wherever you want to go provided that firstly, there are no flags on your passport number and you get stopped at the airport and secondly, that the wherever you want to go isn’t Taiwan.
Yep. And I personally know someone who was flagged and detained at the airport on his way out of Taiwan for tax problems. Very exciting for those of us not directly involved. For him, it was not as fulfilling an experience.
[quote=“Bassman”]
The Truth: This thread could have been useful
The Reality: It has attracted a lot of crap posts.[/quote]
now ain’t that the truth?
Sadly though, you’re right. This thread could prove very useful if people do start posting some informative “truths” and “realities”.
And jle, you think 6% tax is too much? 
What do you reckon is fair, 0.5%, 1%??
Bloody hell! I dunno how much you pay over there in kimchi hell but 6% sure as eggs is eggs beats the 30-odd% I was paying on my chef’s wages back in the UK.
It’s one of the lowest rates I’ve ever paid, and I’ve worked all over the world.
Ooh! Were you a chef?
This thread was doomed for the start; the premise was ‘newbies; how we fuck you up and how stupid you are for falling for it, but I’m sorry now.’
Bloody hell! I dunno how much you pay over there in kimchi hell but 6% sure as eggs is eggs beats the 30-odd% I was paying on my chef’s wages back in the UK.
It’s one of the lowest rates I’ve ever paid, and I’ve worked all over the world.[/quote]
In Kimchi Hell, it depends on your salary. I’m paying a little under 2.145%. I don’t pay any on my OT 
. I’ll admit, 6% is definitely low, but isn’t it more like 13% there? Is it a fixed rate? That’s strange.
Anyway, I re-signed for march with a raise. It goes up to 2.45% then.
Those figures are witholding numbers. It’s actually 9%, but with a lot of deductibles like pension, health, almost half your salary, etc. They don’t take out 9%. Many go with 3.3% figure, but the bulk of employers more than likely pocket the money. Some teachers get jerked around for more than that. Like 4 or 5%.
[quote=“j99l88e77”]In Kimchi Hell, it depends on your salary. I’m paying a little under 2.145%. I don’t pay any on my OT 
. I’ll admit, 6% is definitely low, but isn’t it more like 13% there? Is it a fixed rate? That’s strange.
Anyway, I re-signed for march with a raise. It goes up to 2.45% then.
Those figures are witholding numbers. It’s actually 9%, but with a lot of deductibles like pension, health, almost half your salary, etc. They don’t take out 9%. Many go with 3.3% figure, but the bulk of employers more than likely pocket the money. Some teachers get jerked around for more than that. Like 4 or 5%.[/quote]
So you obviously don’t know what the situation is here. My advice to you is to find out the truth before you go mouthing off and making yourself look like a dick.
I pay 6% withholding on my main job. Other work is paid in full or with 10% withholding. Who cares? My cashflow is fine and at the end of the year I do my taxes and get a refund. I get a wopping allowance and owe 6% on the rest. That’s less than 9%, by the way. I usually get a refund, so obviously nobody’s pocketing my money.
If, for some unaccountable reason, my income was higher - like if I had done some work that I forgot about and the tax office happened to remind me of, which can only happen if the employer has filed a proper tax return - then I might find myself paying 13% on part of my income. Even so, the total amount of tax paid would still be only a small percentage of total income.
The tax rate in Taiwan is minimal, so little that bitching about it is a sign of immaturity. Sure, some people have employers that screw them around. But that happens in every country. It happened to me more in the UK than it did in Taiwan, and if you’re so desperate to prove your point that you’ll latch on to the one time it did happen to me here then that just shows the inadequacy of your argument. I usually have ten or more jobs to declare in any given year, and I’ve been here five years. Fifty employers, one minor problem. That does not constitute an industry of rip-off merchants.
Now maybe the mod could remove all your childish tantrums and the necessary responses from this thread and we could go back to posting useful information instead of uninformed rubbish?
I split these posts off from Bassman’s “Truth – Reality” thread in TEIT, though not without some misgivings. I’m generally reluctant to moderate people’s valid discussion points, and while I don’t agree with what j99l88e77 said, he has a right to say it.
It was borderline offtopic on the original thread, though, so in view of Bassman and TMWC’s comments I split it. I hope the “Living in Taiwan” mods are OK with it being here.
[quote=“tmwc”][quote=“j99l88e77”]In Kimchi Hell, it depends on your salary. I’m paying a little under 2.145%. I don’t pay any on my OT . I’ll admit, 6% is definitely low, but isn’t it more like 13% there? Is it a fixed rate? That’s strange.
Anyway, I re-signed for march with a raise. It goes up to 2.45% then.
Those figures are witholding numbers. It’s actually 9%, but with a lot of deductibles like pension, health, almost half your salary, etc. They don’t take out 9%. Many go with 3.3% figure, but the bulk of employers more than likely pocket the money. Some teachers get jerked around for more than that. Like 4 or 5%.[/quote]
So you obviously don’t know what the situation is here. My advice to you is to find out the truth before you go mouthing off and making yourself look like a dick.
I pay 6% withholding on my main job. Other work is paid in full or with 10% withholding. Who cares? My cashflow is fine and at the end of the year I do my taxes and get a refund. I get a wopping allowance and owe 6% on the rest. That’s less than 9%, by the way. I usually get a refund, so obviously nobody’s pocketing my money.
If, for some unaccountable reason, my income was higher - like if I had done some work that I forgot about and the tax office happened to remind me of, which can only happen if the employer has filed a proper tax return - then I might find myself paying 13% on part of my income. Even so, the total amount of tax paid would still be only a small percentage of total income.
The tax rate in Taiwan is minimal, so little that bitching about it is a sign of immaturity. Sure, some people have employers that screw them around. But that happens in every country. It happened to me more in the UK than it did in Taiwan, and if you’re so desperate to prove your point that you’ll latch on to the one time it did happen to me here then that just shows the inadequacy of your argument. I usually have ten or more jobs to declare in any given year, and I’ve been here five years. Fifty employers, one minor problem. That does not constitute an industry of rip-off merchants.
Now maybe the mod could remove all your childish tantrums and the necessary responses from this thread and we could go back to posting useful information instead of uninformed rubbish?[/quote]
Bark, bark, bark,
That’s too bad. My taxes are only 2% and change. I have health and pension, too. Oh yeah, guess what? Pension is 9%. My boss pays half. So, 4.5% each. I get my and his contributions back when I leave Korea. So, I make an extra 4.5%. So, not only are my taxes small, but I come out about 2.3% on top with the pension benefit. Health insurance is right aroung that so, I basically take home my gross salary.
Taiwan seems to tax too high in many cases. 20% in the beginning? What the hell is that? Still don’t know why. No matter what salary, the tax rate there is the same. That shouldn’t be. If you make like 150,000/month, are you taxed the same as someone making 50,000?
No. 
Rgds,
Rascal
jl whatever the fuck your stupid number is,
you don’t really like living anywhere, do you? why don’t you do us all a favour and go and suck on a live wire.
and get informed about the real facts of the situation before you go around mouthing off. yes, there is a progressive tax rate here. and if you’re happy living in korea (why call it kimchi hell then?), WTF are you complaining on a taiwan board for? why not complain about tax on an australian board, where many people pay 49% tax at the high marginal rate…
troll
You’re a dick. Oops, sorry, you’re not allowed to call people names. I take it back. Your completely uninformed blathering on this and practically any other subject you care to expound upon make you look like a dick. Maybe you’re not, but it’s very difficult to tell.
Anyway 
I really find this 20% thing for your first six months is really annoying. I heard many people complain about it when I was there. Teachers making 60,000 were only clearing 48,000. From what I remember, they were taxed 6% after six months, making the average tax 13% for, at least, their first year. That’s way too fucking high. Then you have to go and do a tax return? How annoying is that?
So, you have to provide a tax certificate before you leave the country? Is this true? Or is it only if there’s some sort of red flag on you? I couldn’t see immigration caring about any taxes unless the tax office informed them of suspecting parties.
Jesus, you guys really get all bent out of shape over the smallest things. Anyway, continue if you must. Call me names. Do whatever. Bark, bark, bark some more. Or post, post, post as much as you can. Post from your cell phone. Christ, have some wires implanted in your brain and just talk into a computer and you’ll be able to break the world record for posts. Then you’ll become the omnipotent poster where your opinion will matter the most and no one will ever need to post again.
Who wants to think about taxes? It’s just stupid. Why should you have to be annoyed with this bullshit. Tax me at the correct rate. That’s whay I say. It’s a stupid tax system there. Why do they have to make things so complicated? What’s this 20, then 13, then 6. Make up you damn minds, I say. Most people that are there for a year or less, or even 2 years, don’t want to bother with doing tax returns. Don’t most just hop on a plane without doing them? Yes. Do they leave the country unscathed and unbothered about tax certificates? Yes.
What do you mean by fixed ? It depends on how much you earn if that what you mean.
And don’t you get a refund if you’re resident more than half the year so you still pay the same as nationals ?
You can say you think it’s too high or too low or whatever, but can’t you at least get the facts right ?
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]What do you mean by fixed ? It depends on how much you earn if that what you mean.
And don’t you get a refund if you’re resident more than half the year so you still pay the same as nationals ?
You can say you think it’s too high or too low or whatever, but can’t you at least get the facts right ?[/quote]
Well, I guess I could be learning something new. When you sign a contract, don’t you get an Alien Residence Card? Does that not make you a resident?
From what you say, I’m guessing you’re not. So, someone working in Taiwan for only one year gets taxed 20% for the first 6 months, 6% for the remaining 6, and then has to turn around and do a tax return to get 14% back of his first 6 months’ taxes.
That’s annoying.
And, from what I’ve been hearing here, taxes are not fixed. So why do they always say 20% and 6%. Why don’t they just say that you’ll be taxed according to Taiwanese law? Seems to me that people are being misinformed because the consensus has always had those figures implanted in their thinking.