Bank of America in Taiwan

Business Money
1

I’m considering opening up an account with Bank of America while I’m here in the States, and then when I get back to Taiwan closing out my ICBC account and switching everything over to BOA. Has anyone dealt with BOA in Taiwan and have any thoughts/opinions? The BOA customer service center here in the States said that it would be best to open everything up here in the States, account, on-line banking, debit card, credit card, blah blah blah, and then I can make deposits at the BOA branch in Taipei. Pretty much everything else I can do with on-line banking. The reason I want to do this is because I want to have my American credit card payments directly debited from my account rather than having my parents do it for me anymore, and also I feel a bit safer with my money in an American account in case, god forbid, there was a war or another massive Asian financial crisis.

Also, what about taxes? This is what I’m worried about the most. If I’m depositing my scholarship money into my BOA account (which will be a US-based account) or pick up a part-time job or something, will I be liable for taxes in the United States even if the money isn’t earned there? Or should I still keep my ICBC account open as well? Finally, where in the heck is the BOA branch in Taipei? Near any MRT stations?

2

[quote=“LittleBuddhaTW”]
Also, what about taxes? This is what I’m worried about the most. If I’m depositing my scholarship money into my BOA account (which will be a US-based account) or pick up a part-time job or something, will I be liable for taxes in the United States even if the money isn’t earned there? Or should I still keep my ICBC account open as well? Finally, where in the heck is the BOA branch in Taipei? Near any MRT stations?[/quote]

You are liable for U.S. taxes regardless of where you deposit your money, wherever it may be earned.

BofA is located on the southeast corner of TungHwa and MingSheng E. Rd, unless they moved it since I was there last time (last May). Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

3

I was wondering about whether I could use Bank of America in Taiwan if I had a US account, or if I opened an account at BofA Taiwan, would it be easier to transfer funds back and forth.

So, since I’m at home now, I asked the local BofA people, and they told me that the BofA in Taiwan only handles corporate clients and investments, and does not deal with banking or services for consumers.

Thus, the answer I got was in short, “No.”

4

One must file a US tax return, but there is a large foreign income exemption. No English teachers, students, journalists, or technical writers I know make enough to owe anything.

5

[quote=“ophion”][quote=“daniel_han”]

You are liable for U.S. taxes regardless of where you deposit your money, wherever it may be earned.

[/quote]

One must file a US tax return, but there is a large foreign income exemption. No English teachers, students, journalists, or technical writers I know make enough to owe anything.[/quote]

I had a BofA account in the US before I moved. I was going to keep it, since I had heard that there was a branch here in Taipei. However, as Ben said, I was told by the people in the US that the BofA branch here in Taipei is ONLY for corporate clients. Individuals (i.e., consumer clients) could not deposit, withdraw, etc… at the branch.

As for taxes… According to what I read on the IRS website last year, you only have to pay taxes on your income in Taiwan if you live here less than 11 continuous months in one calendar year. So, for instance, in 2002, I only lived here about 7 months, so I had to pay taxes on my Taiwan income. However, in 2003, I lived here for 12 full months, so I do not have to pay taxes on my income. Though, I believe I still have to file. Not sure about that.

If I’m wrong, someone please let me know.

6

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

F%$#^%# BofA, may some evil demon grab them and drag them down into hell where they properly belong.

If you have a BofA acct in the US and another in Taiwan. They are mutually exclusive. They treat each other like two different banks and will charge there same high prices. Might I suggest the wisdom of using American Express? They are a much better organization and I can move money between Taiwan and the US easily with no charges with them. Let me know what you think and get back to them. But let me say this as a long time BofA customer. I f#$%ing hate them. If I didn’t need a checking acct for a few odds and ends, I would quickly rid myself of them.

CYA
Okami

7

[quote=“QuietMountain”][quote=“ophion”][quote=“daniel_han”]
You are liable for U.S. taxes regardless of where you deposit your money, wherever it may be earned.[/quote]
One must file a US tax return, but there is a large foreign income exemption. No English teachers, students, journalists, or technical writers I know make enough to owe anything.[/quote]
As for taxes… According to what I read on the IRS website last year, you only have to pay taxes on your income in Taiwan if you live here less than 11 continuous months in one calendar year.[/quote]
Damn. I hope you’re wrong; I was told it was six months out of a calendar year. I’d better go annoy my accountant again.

8

Damn. I hope you’re wrong; I was told it was six months out of a calendar year. I’d better go annoy my accountant again.[/quote]

Let me know what he says… However, when I was filling out the taxes for 2002 (I worked partial year in the US, so had to pay taxes on THAT money), I tried to determine if I had to pay tax on the money I made in Taiwan for the second half of the year. That’s what the IRS site told me – 11 months. That seemed odd to me, since they might as well have just said a full year… but… the government is always odd, so…

9

I closed my BofA account in the states a while back, partly because the customer service people there never knew what they were talking about.

Overseas branches of banks are generally not considered to be an integral part of the parent organisation. Usually they have to be registered as separate companies, and are unable to casually move money between accounts in different countries. (I don’t know how AmEx operate, but it might be worth looking into.)

Hell, I had trouble moving money between accounts in different american states. I recall being charged outrageous sums to get my money across state lines to pay my credit card bills. (Washington Mutual would not let me deposit to an account in OR from a branch in CA. Never tried it with BoA, but I remember my woman having similar problems with her bank too.)

I bank in NZ these days, and they at least don’t charge me to receive wire transfers. (Check this out with BoA. It can be expensive.) It costs 4-500NT to send money back to my account from Taiwan, and credit card minimum payments are made by direct debit from there so I don’t forget. Then I get online to make top-up payments.

When I locked myself out of my BoA online service the only number I could find was a 1-800, which is not accessible from outside the USA. It took three emails to them before they understood this, and then they supplied an incorrect direct line number.

From the sounds of it you’re coming here to study and will have a US scholarship income. If so then I would have a US account for the money to go into and for your bill payments to go out of. Draw whatever money you need here using your debit card, and if you get a part-time job then spend the cash rather than drawing it from your account.

If your income is in NT, and you have a surplus, then whether to convert to US$s is another question altogether. Currency markets seem to be getting rather leery of the greenback these days. Why buy a currency that is declining in value? Keep your money in NT, and hope it doesn’t devalue. Buy Euros, and hope they keep increasing in value. Buy RMB, and hope that the mainland bows to pressure to allow an upward revaluation. Put it into $s and hope its value recovers. There are other threads on this topic.

The other thing to remember is that if you plan to go back to the USA, and don’t keep your accounts open, you risk having no credit rating on your return.

10

Oh, and what happens if BoA does an Enron, or a Barings? Accounts in a few different places are not always a bad idea.

11

[quote=“MaPoDoFu”][quote=“QuietMountain”]
As for taxes… According to what I read on the IRS website last year, you only have to pay taxes on your income in Taiwan if you live here less than 11 continuous months in one calendar year.[/quote]
Damn. I hope you’re wrong; I was told it was six months out of a calendar year. I’d better go annoy my accountant again.[/quote]

11 months is correct. 330 days to be exact (for the physical presence test).

For the gory details:

irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf

12

Anyone knows if other banks (i.e. Citibank) might be different?

13

i checked this out in HK too. i believe from the info i received that even if these banks had consumer divisions and u had an acct here, you could not link it the your US-based account.

e.g. i worked in HK, tried to move my savings to my US-account in BofA (directly) and they said ‘not possible.’

14

[quote=“daniel_han”][quote=“MaPoDoFu”][quote=“QuietMountain”]
As for taxes… According to what I read on the IRS website last year, you only have to pay taxes on your income in Taiwan if you live here less than 11 continuous months in one calendar year.[/quote]
Damn. I hope you’re wrong; I was told it was six months out of a calendar year. I’d better go annoy my accountant again.[/quote]

11 months is correct. 330 days to be exact (for the physical presence test).

For the gory details:

irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p54.pdf[/quote]

My accountant told me that you could get it applied retroactively by filing some more forms (unfortunately, the post-it where I wrote which forms isn’t in front of me now). Basically, if you moved to Taiwan in say, September 2002, and filed your taxes in April 2003, then you were not eligible for the exemption for 2002, and had to pay US taxes on income earned in Taiwan for 2002. However, in September 2003, you will have stayed for the required amount of time for the exception. At that time, you could file those forms, and get some of the taxes you paid in 2002 back.

15

As an ex BoA customer in the U.S., I found that the Taiwan branch was only for corporate customers and the U.S. customer service people were somewhat useless in dealing with overseas customers. I’d recommend sticking with things the way you have 'em.

16

[quote=“Okami”]AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

F%$#^%# BofA, may some evil demon grab them and drag them down into hell where they properly belong.

If you have a BofA acct in the US and another in Taiwan. They are mutually exclusive. They treat each other like two different banks and will charge there same high prices. Might I suggest the wisdom of using American Express? They are a much better organization and I can move money between Taiwan and the US easily with no charges with them. Let me know what you think and get back to them. But let me say this as a long time BofA customer. I f#$%ing hate them. If I didn’t need a checking acct for a few odds and ends, I would quickly rid myself of them.

CYA
Okami[/quote]

for american express they have actual banks in Taiwan? I tho it’s just a credit card company…and no fees whatsoever if you transfer funds from USA to Taiwan?

hmm went to their site but can’t find any branches or locations

17

AFAIK, there is no real banks-without-borders. Whether it has the same name in one country as it does another, they are not linked. Different countries, different currencies, different banking laws. If you have a pile of money, though, some banks like HSBC do a better job of smoothing out the wrinkles.

18

Ironfist,

American Express has a branch on Fuxing N. Rd. in Taipei and I believe another one in Kaoshiung. Simply deposit your money to pay off your card, then phone them after the next statement and have them send a refund for the remainder for your mom to deposit in your bank back in the US.

12F, 363 FuXing N. Rd., SongShan District, Taipei, though I believe the 10F has the banking branch.

My favorite credit card company by far.

19

Just in case anyone missed this info which I’ve posted in other threads, Bank of America does not have a retail presence in Taiwan. They opened one about 10-11 years ago at Dunhua-Bade, but it was sold to ABN-AMRO then RBS and now it is ANZ’s.

BoA does have a corporate bank in 101 but it only deals with large corporations. Don’t bother going there if you have a BoA (retail, i.e. individual or personal) account in another country.

20

[quote=“Okami”]Ironfist,

American Express has a branch on Fuxing N. Rd. in Taipei and I believe another one in Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong). Simply deposit your money to pay off your card, then phone them after the next statement and have them send a refund for the remainder for your mom to deposit in your bank back in the US.

12F, 363 Fuxing N. Rd., Songshan District, Taipei, though I believe the 10F has the banking branch.

My favorite credit card company by far.[/quote]

so that’s how you do it…but once awhile you do that it’s ok…if it’s every month or every other month…they won’t be happy to do it since it’s not a service they provide…and for me the sum is kind big…I am going to need a proper way to do it