I am a “weird” Premier since I got the status in HK thanks to a promotion which waived the under balance fee (to be premier in HK you need HKD 1M in balance, otherwise HKD 380 fee), so I grandfathered it to TW when I opened the account, but have very little funds in it, I put most of them into Chungwa post (tax free interest) and then moving them back to Italy in my investment fund. So I’m nowhere near the TWD 3M balance for Premier.
I read some stories of ppl having 1M balance on the account at HSBC for like 1 month, then they applied, they waived the guarantor.
Change if topic but this is a HUGE problem in Taiwan (it’s a problem everywhere but it seems much more prevalent here). It took me 2.5 years, 3 threats to quit and 1 actual resignation (followed by him begging me to come back) to get my boss to declare my income correctly.
And they get away declaring one amount to labor insurance and a different amount to the tax office.
And it causes huge problems, especially for the future. Not enough retirement money, not collecting enough tax, harder to apply for loans/credit cards.
Any ideas why the government doesn’t start auditing everywhere? And why do people just accept this?
Off topic reply!
Yes!! Almost all Taiwanese bosses do this because they want to pay less towards labor, NHI insurance and pension payments and they believe they are “helping” their employees because they will have to pay less or no taxes at all if their income is under-reported.
Surprisingly, all of my Taiwanese colleagues have actually requested my Boss to just report their minimum income (to my Boss’ dismay as she wants to report their actual income so she can get more deductions come tax season). The only time my colleagues will ask my boss to increase their reported incomes (to 80K~100K/mth) is when they want to get a loan from a bank to buy a house or a Mercedes/BMW.
Do they not realise they’re shooting themselves in the foot?
I really care about my pension because I want to start transitioning to retirement at 55 and totally retire by 60 (or at least have the option to, I think i’d be bored if I didn’t work at least part time)
My husband is the same, he thinks it’s great that his income is underreported. Yet my Taiwanese pension is bigger than his and I’ve been working here less than 3 years, and him like 10. I’m trying to get him to get a job on the books properly but it’s an uphill battle. Not to mention income tax here is not very high.
And back to credit cards, maybe this is why they just approve citizens without caring about the income. They know that the income will be underreported unless you’re employed by a big public company?
Citibank just emailed me. I missed a signature on the application form. They also asked for my overseas phone number and address which don’t exist. Even the address on my Australian drivers licence is my Taiwanese address. I offered my sisters’ but seems a ridiculous policy in itself.
Unrelated to actually getting a credit card but related to using one. Has anyone ever setup a PIN for their card?
I’m going back to visit my family i. Australia soon and signatures for credit card purchases have already been phased out for many years and everyone has a PIN. Am I able to setup a PIN number? or should a receipt for me to sign still print?
Usually, you should be able to set a 4-digit PIN for your credit card for usage abroad. The 6-8-digit PIN is only for use in Taiwan.
That depends on the merchant. I remember having to pay for gas using cash in the US because the credit card readers at the pump didn’t accept non-US cards because the ZIP-code check would always fail…
Try inserting the card into an ATM of the issuing bank and be sure to choose Chinese language. English language might not have the option to set/change a PIN. Otherwise, you’ll probably have to ask some bank employee.
not a bad idea but I’m a Melburnian I actually called the E sun branch in Sydney a few years ago as they blocked my card from working and they refused to help.
Also on a side note my Citibank card application must be progressing because I just missed a call from them. The number I called back only had an English recorded message. Do they have decent English service?
No, when I called before and selected English, someone answered in Chinese. I asked if I can speak with the English service, and they said sorry nobody is available, so I just spoke to her in Chinese instead
I actually called the E sun branch in Sydney a few years ago as they blocked my card from working and they refused to help.