Hi, I’m a foreign worker here in Taiwan with ARC. I’m currently earning payments through YouTube ads and subscriber’s donations. I’ve earned 4000TWD every month and sometimes didn’t met the payment threshold. Did i violate Taiwan rules? if so, what’s the consequences? if no, what should i do to avoid any problems in future? thanks in advance.
There is a threshold sum before taxes are due:
Who is the entity paying you? Is it Google Singapore or Google USA? If so then it’s considered foreign income and I don’t see any issue with it, you just declare it on your Taiwan tax as foreign income.
If it’s Google Taiwan paying you then it might be a gray area since your work visa doesn’t allow you to work for other Taiwan companies. It would be like you working for Uber Taiwan to deliver food using your current work visa.
It’s not so much the content, but whether the OP is doing unlawful work.
yes, google US pay me and not google Taiwan. my worries are, Taiwan Gov. tracing bank transfers outside taiwan, and im using my company bank account to receive my YT payment, so im thinking it might be wrong too and soon they will trace my account.
does uploading video games on yt and earn money through it is part of unlawful work too?
That’s probably more an issue of whether you have the right from the video game publisher to upload images or videos of you playing the game. I doubt that the Taiwanese government cares about the specific content as long as you have the appropriate work permit and pay taxes on related income, unless the content itself is illegal. You probably won’t get into trouble unless the video game publisher sues you.
Do you have the appropriate work permits?
When you say “google US pay me” but then you say “using my company bank account to receive my YT payment” it means different things for taxation and work permit requirements
My advice is to ask ChatGPT to give you a high level summary on the tax and work visa requirements of both (use grounding on Taiwan government websites) and then if you still need peace of mind afterwards, go pay for a hour consultation from a Taiwan immigration lawyer and then a Taiwan CPA
does hobby needs work permit?
Hobbies cease to be hobbies once you receive a paycheck for it.
it is still a hobby if you didn’t intend to ear money and just upload videos for fun. but since monetization comes, why not have it?
Because it then becomes revenue. If you want to do it as a hobby and don’t want to worry about any of this legal stuff, then just turn off monetization.
i guess that’s the best thing to do right now. thanks!