what kind of documentation they need. I asked another foreigner and he said he didnt need to show any proof . I am not sure how true it is
Any idea if I can use receipts of buying something in their name as proof? Say buying them a plane ticket
Copy of passport and pension works for me.
Did they ask for it after u filled the taxes online?
I don’t file taxes online.
And no proof that u actually sent any money to them?
Nope, but I’ve heard that sometimes people get asked for that
Think it’s listed in the PDF available here:
https://www.ntbt.gov.tw/English/multiplehtml/827247c5bf074ace8cbb1c7b4c045c15
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No sorry, I’ve never done it myself. Just read about other people’s experiences, mostly on here.
Just sharing my experience this year, first time filing my parents as dependents. I was able to claim both (60 and 65 yrs old) as dependents this year, but I filed my taxes personally at the Taipei office so it’s just a matter of handing them the paperwork.
I showed receipts of remittances sent to my mom and provided scanned IDs of my parents as proof that they are living together (via their address) when they got my remittances. Without their scanned IDs, I might not be able to prove my dad as dependent because I don’t have remittances that show his name.
So if they came to visit , and I show them the TW entry/exit stamp, that is proof of dependency? Did you try this before?
That’s it, and yes I tried it before and it worked. The woman at the tax office was a bit skeptical however. After she realized I was married to a Taiwanese person, she relaxed a bit about it. It seems that tax evasion is much more permissive when Taiwanese people are involved.
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It seems to be common advice that when married to a Taiwanese person and filing together, one should always file taxes under their partner’s name!
Apparently, tax returns by foreigners are much more likely (or potentially even 100% likely) to get audited in detail compared to the tax returns submitted by local citizens.
Then, there is the difference between where you file: The Taipei tax bureau will review your return rigorously. Other tax bureaus are less thorough…
I haven’t found this. They’ve always been pretty fine and flexible just accepting what I submit, even when things are a bit unusual* and I’ve just done what I think is best and explain it to them.
I do have a trustworthy look about me though. 
[* For example, one of my regular clients pays me in a mixture of USD and CNY, where the USD is sort of an advance payment every few months and the CNY is a fixed amount each month, with my invoices in USD and nominally converted to CNY at a now-incorrect exchange rate from 2022 or something (we fixed it because I didn’t want to keep changing it each month on the invoices), with no evidence provided besides the monthly invoices that don’t match the amounts I say I received and want to pay taxes on. In other words, I sort of have a running balance with the client over several years, where the regular and irregular payments keep it within the range of ±1000 USD in one direction or the other. I’ve explained this a couple of times and they’ve never queried it, perhaps because it was too confusing.]
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The point being: If you filed in New Taipei instead, you might not even need to explain anything
At least that was my experience: Two years filing in Taipei - both times I needed to explain something, they asked for more documents, wanted some documents notarized (at least at first, after some discussions they were fine with receiving a signed original document) etc.
The third year filing in New Taipei: They just accepted everything directly without any questions…
Of course, maybe just by chance, but I feel like recognizing a pattern…
Yeah, it’s full of criminals and tax evaders, true. That’s why I don’t like going across the river.
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Better don’t travel south then 
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For this (in Taipei), I’ve just said some polite version of “I’m not doing that — this is what I earned, do you want me to pay taxes on it or not?” and it was fine lol.
Then in subsequent years: “This is what I did last year, and you said it was fine.”
“Oh okay, then it should be fine.”
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Is there a minimum remittance amount ? If I support them with $1000 or $10,000 , does it matter?
The Kaohsiung office couldn’t care less to ask me for additional paperwork. She just filled it out with my receipts. Did the deductions. And I was out in 20 min. year after year with no other questions. Maybe that’s changed these days.
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