My parents recently tried to send me a bank transfer to test the waters in terms of sending money to Taiwan. They may want to do this more and have already suggested that at some point in the future they may want to send a large amount such as an early inheritance while they can still see it being put to use. They are in Ireland and found this testing of the waters incredibly difficult to do.
They were told they could not make a direct transfer but had to first send the money via a
“middle bank” (in this case a US Bank which iirc was bank of America) and from there it would be sent to a Taiwanese account (In that case land bank). It took 3/5 days for the transfer from the Irish bank to the middle US bank at which point Land bank asked me to come in and sign for the transfer and pay 200NT before the 2nd leg of the transfer could begin at which point it would take another 3-5 working days.
Around 2 weeks Seems like too long a time anytime a transfer is to be done especially when you think that each bank is probably charging a fee for the transfer as well as the currency exchange rate. There must be a better way?
I have a number of TW bank accounts and a Post Office account that could be used but I’m not sure how exactly to approach this so any advice would be much appreciated.
I regularly send money from UK using my online FirstDirect account (which is HSBC) to Sinopac here. All automatic and very fast. I send GBP to GBP, which might be your issue (You can probably send EUR to EUR instead if EUR to TWD, just open a EUR account here). Then you can convert EUR to TWD in Taiwan after the money arrives.
Be careful with tax implications, I don’t think you will be taxed under 2.2 millions NT/year (https://www.bycpa.com/html/news/20158/1950.html), but you might still need to declare it (get expert advice or talk to tax office, could be gift tax or could be AMT). In general it is not advisable to receive big amount of money without being able to justify the source.
So… Open a Sinopac account, a Euro one and I should be able to do online transfers from an Irish bank into that account?
HSBC isn’t partners with Sinopac or something are they? this should work the same with a Bank of Ireland or similar non HSBC account? Also how fast is fast? though it’d def be faster than the way they have already tried transferring funds
HSBC is certainly well implanted in Asia that might help. I don’t think Sinopac is anything special. I think I did the same with Taishin before. Just any big bank where foreign currency accounts are available, and If I remember they need to provide you with an IBAN and SWIFT code.
Yeah have a feeling that may be a HSBC benefit. I already have a Megabank, Cathay, Land Bank & a post office account here but I am guessing that unlike HSBC none of them probably have the same kind of partnership with Irish banks. I’d guess HSBC could have played the same “middle bank” role that bank of America did in the trial transfer.
What I suspect is Bank of Ireland doesn’t know how to convert to TWD because of the geopolitic situation so go through american bank. Hence sending EUR to EUR might help.
Okay now I understand that better! I was worried that it was a tax of any money transferred in, but in your case it would be just a tax due to it being a gift.
So, if I were to transfer in five million NT or so but it was all my money, taxes should not be an issue at all, correct?
And on top of that, it should be a flat fee, not a percentage, correct?
Expect a call from your bank asking what the use of the wire is for. Don’t freak out. It’s a financial regulation they have to do.
If you know your banker, you can tell someone at tbe branch ahead of time as a form of courtesy.
There should be no tax on long term saving, assuming you’ve already paid tax on it previously. (Tax office is allowed to check your income 7 years back if I remember)
Yeah usually it is a flat fee, but keep an eye on exchange rate.
It is pretty systematic in Taiwan, either you’ll get a call and/or you’ll be asked online when converting the money to TWD. Mind you it is the norm in many places and it is not as strict in Taiwan as in some EEC countries.
its not a political issue, its a scale issue. there are just not enough money transfers going from ireland to TW, so they use a larger bank (in this case in the USA) as a clearing house to do this for them. its common practice in banking.
Using a “middle bank” is standard, no problems there. the time to process is a little long. i transfer to First Bank in Taiwan and usually get the money the next day.
It will be a transfer in of investment money from my accounts in Canada (which is from a tax free account, but in that capital gains from securities from a Taiwan residency point of view are tax free, I don’t see the issue) with the purpose of getting an APRC at the five year mark.
And regardless, it is below the 6.7 million AMT limit for foreign based income, so I again don’t forsee an issue. However, if any of you have experience otherwise, I would love to hear it.
Not in Taiwan, but anytime you’re moving a meaningful amount of money into another country, it’s worth engaging competent legal/tax counsel beforehand rather than relying on your own reading of local laws, or the knowledge of random strangers on the internet.
Even if everything is above board, large movements of money can invite all sorts of inquiries. Better to be prepared and have your ducks in a row than to find yourself on your back foot.
Why would you pay through a centralized institution when you have hundreds of ways to transfer money?
Bitcoin or any decentralized currency will do. Its direct, secure, and it’s an open-ended way to transfer $.
Pro: using digital currency is direct, especially once you start getting the gist of it. and of course, It’s undoubtedly secure.
Con: do your research, don’t go to sketchy sites.
Everything else should be common sense if you’re familiar with technology.
Other than local laws to abide by, you should find everything you need online;