I don’t know anywhere worse than here in terms of the disparity.
Every salaried worker who wants to access Lao bao and Jian Bao MUST pay income tax and almost all of them pay the full amount due.
In some parts of the country like Hsiinchu, Taichung ?
But a lot of landlords in Taiwan inherited their properties or are civil servants who added a couple.of units with their cheap mortgages.
If you still have a copy of the old contract go into the tax office with proof of a couple of transfers to the landlord. Say you didn’t know about the ability to claim this.
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For sure. I am indeed talking ofthe thousands of small business working for hundreds nt a day. There are a LOT and i respect the government intentionally not going after them.
Fraud t may be, but i still think its fair to allow the poorest of the country earn a buck and crawl out of poverty.
Im not talking about 3c, sogo, costco and that type of thing. More the couple that ha v e a fridge and sell dinks, veggies, handcrafts etc. There is a massive quantity of small guys on this rock 
for them, i think its fair
If taiwan had better social assistance and care i might think otherwise. But essentially we are all on our own in taiwan when we get old. So, fair is fair.
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My guess is many are worried about paying backed taxes . Which can be in the millions for a house not worth it. Its why outside of ultra inflation hot spts there are ao many old busted houses. Just not worth paying the tax for the few hundred thousand nt you would get after splitting with the family.
I can understand that logic. When its a company ,no excuses. Or someone that owns a bunch of rentals.
We pay 5k a month and this house hasnt paid 1 years of ta ever. 70 ear old house. Probbaly worth 2 million tops to sell. 3 brothers own it. Thus, they arent interested. More valuable just letting it be.
That’s just an outlier dude.
LINE takes seven days before the money is transferred to the business bank account.
Thats not uncommon with most payment processing services.
I know we have had this conversation a lot. But respectufully, it really isnt an outlier. Its quite the norm. To note, my above post i did mention this is the norm outside of ultra inflated (ie. Heavy speculation) areas. In most rural places in taiwan, this really is the norm. And the houses sit empty for exactly said reason: backed taxes and family involvements are not worth the real estate to transfrom them into condos in that area. It is worth that hassle in ultra expensive areas with population demographics that justify it (eg. A mall in a city or an apartment complex in rural tainan/koahsiung for te science park projects). Otherwise ,abandoned broken houses lay everywhere.
Renting without tax seems fair and better than letting it rot. The government seems to think so as well as they leave them alone in most places unless there is a dispute. I notice this hanging a bit now with constant airplane flyovers photographing. But that seems quite localized, at least down south where i hang out. Takes less than amonth for the gov to up your taxes if you renovate in certain areas. Faster than even Canadas tax hungry machine. At least its cheaper!
No way 5k for a house in the norm even in the countryside. My in-laws are from one of the cheaper rural areas of Taiwan and it is still not that.
Betcha it is 
all our neighbours think our landlord charges too much. 3to7k is the norm for a full house everywhere i have lived. I have paid 2 to 6.5k before. My ex who still runs a school in a 3 floor 20 year old row house still pays 5k. As do all the neighbours. Its pretty common
Places we rent for company (legal and paying taxes) have always been under 6, including small warehouses. Factory is 15k and so on.
Yeah in extreme bumfuckville maybe , excuse my French .
Can’t imagine a lot comes with that 5k a month. Even then 5k is not the norm. 5k a month is for Taofang and even for Taofang that is on the low side.
You are talking about four walls and a roof and a door I assume. Ain’t gonna get much else for that.
You might need to work on your French…
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Ya, aka a house/home. There is no denying there are ultra expensive places in bumfucknowhere as well. I bet if you tied you could find it landlord near me willin to take a million a month. That said comfortable homes with all services can be had uber cheap. And to my point above, many owners dont want to pay out million in.backed taxes and something that will either rot if unattended or can be used and appreciated by many. If people have certain standards that is irrelevant, lts of expenaive a round as well
Another common thing, though generally in areas where wealthier city people buy for get away areas (these town are uusally quite obvious) Lots of really nice NEW, and with land, housing can be had somewhat easily (more ground work needed to meet people). Most i see around here are 2 or 3k. The catch with those is you are essentially the “manager” of the house and land and the person needs to trust you. Often times they expect to stay there a few times annually. I dont like those because i value my privacy (i dont mind spending 6k for total peace and happiness i would spend more if market price raised regardless). a number of friends have amazingly nice huge houses for 2k a month. I think people that are ok with maintaining gardens (costs probably 4k/month to hire somone to maintain 1 fen enough if someone wasnt interested) and having landlords as guests sometimes its a friggen steal!
Taiwan still has a ton of options even post 8 year CCP rule and chinese inflation/speculation. If someone requires an mrt, shopping mall etc next door then obviously need not apply
Ps. Anywhere that has Taofeng are highly speculative areas. Thats what my point way above was. Any area that tends to have such buildings has already been invaded by the speculators . Some rural areas have them near by a university or massive factory near by. Outside those speculation/inflated regions you get nice houses cheap. Buy a car and drive 15 mins to the supermarket and enjoy cheap living without neighbors that can see inside your bathroom window!
Of course, its not for everyone. Some people need busy cities, i need silent nights. To eah their own. Just make no mistake it is very much available to anyone who wants it
I don’t think it works like that in reality .
No way I hell I could live in a house with the landlord there turning up whenever and doing whatever they want lol.
Yeah right buddy . Why are you paying 5k then you are getting ripped off man.
Nor I buddy, nor I! But… Did you read the rest of what i wrote? It is reality, believe it or not. Might not be discussed much on foreign language boards, but thats irrelevant. I think i mentioned thats why a very new large house is only 2k a month. Its a sacrifice as in managing. I am not willing either, but many are, understandably! It is a great way to live in a modern new house, have land and pay very little. The trade offs being obvious (time spent maintaining the land). We get offered ever month or 2 by various neighbours that bought up land and built their retirement house. In fact we farm an entire hectare for over 5 years rent free from such people. For tha plot we guarantee organic ,thats t Also not hard to find.
You probably are also familiar with the, also quite, common situation of renting a house and the familys’ shrine is still there. even in the biggest of cities, quite common when the family house is rented. Even taipei Thus, requiring it to remain AND have landlords family come back to pray on all the special days. Even more commonly, landlords that have storage rooms in the house…same issues. I also dont want that kind of BS. Interestingly all the places i have checked over the years think this is normal and dont discount the rent (eg. Also 5k a month). So no thanks. I would rather than yard, a house disconnected to anyone else, and also 5k. Thanks and jiayou to those landlords.
As mentioned, i am willin to pay 5k, as is standard market value in these areas, for peace and happiness. I would pay 10k, but its just not the market value. if it were back in Canada i would be paying 30k. In fact i will leave this house this year because i dislike the landlord quite a lot. And he only comes down south 3 times a year. I dont feel i am ripped off, but ALL the neighbours do certainly do. My wife has to do the face save often to avoid looking like total fools. Makes me love my neighbors even more, in a strange way. Gotta pick your community just as carefully as your house. I love this village, worth every 500nt increase in rent haha
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Yet another cashless payment option just rolled out in Taiwan:
I am actually most excited about this one! No more fumbling around with my Line app to access my LinePay Money.