Filing Taxes in 2022

No I stayed in Taiwan a lot longer than 90 days 22 months with permission of immigration Taiwan.
like 100’s of others did on the Covid-19 automatic 30 day each month extension like I did.
Do not return!! And be spanked for being dumbass foreigner.

I mean if you stay in Taiwan for that long, then of course you need to start paying taxes at some point. What do you expect? Just being a foreigner means no taxes?

Still - if you kept paying taxes in the UK, you should really try pointing out the tax treaty and stating that your center of life was still the UK during that time (which should be possible as you didn’t even have a ling-term residence permit in Taiwan at that point). Of course, you’ll need to show tax statements from the UK then and ideally some kind of residence certificate or something from there.

If you didn’t - well, at least taxes in Taiwan should be a bit less than UK, I think?

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Officially by my visa still a Tourist, they don’t pay taxes do they?

Yes I’ve got them ready, that purposely show I don’t run a business.
This is the argument, they say not personal income but a business!

I wouldn’t call 18% a bit less on a income that low, less than a English teacher by far.

The taxman - in most countries of the world - doesn’t care about visa status. The UK is probably quite similar in that regard.

Like I said - at that point you probably really need some assistance from a professional. Given the tax treaty, you definitely should not need to pay taxes in both countries!

So they also want 18% flat tax and no deductions even for the time you stayed in Taiwan the entire year basically? That also sounds quite strange.

Again, you probably need some professional assistance now if you want to resolve that unfortunately…

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They are supposed to, but only are made to when they transition into formal residency because at that point the tax office finds out who you are and how long you’ve been here previously. They will ask the question, how did you support yourself during that time?

Same thing happened to me after traveling here for business over 90 days the couple years prior to becoming a resident.

Also the taxation treaty is probably irrelevant to them as you were a tax resident of Taiwan. They probably feel you should be asking for any tax paid to the UK during that time back as you weren’t a resident there. Just my speculation though, assuming those agreements center on paying tax to residing county with the exemption in the “home” country.

I’d consult a professional if you decide you really want to be here as it is quite complicated.

Good luck!

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Getting professional assistance may mean the tax office will more closely scrutinize your tax returns and previous years, depends if you think it’s worth it. For only 150k NTD tax it’s probably not worth it since the lawyers will charge more. It’s a pretty low tax bill for living in the country for so long.

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FYI, an accountant who will organize, and submit your tax return for you will cost around 10k.

This includes helping you figure out what should, and shouldn’t be reported.

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Do you have a CPA recommendation? A Taiwan CPA charged 30k to file my tax returns last year because I had large prior RSUs that were taxed in multiple US states and it was a complicated situation to not double tax them in Taiwan since CA tax is based on time of issuance rather than vest.

I was quoted 10,000 by Chen Yao Asia Pacific CPA Firm, but I did it myself in the end.

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That’s about what it was like for me in Banqiao on May 31, in the afternoon.

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Yes I do have a CPA who I respect, however he works for a large organisation and their prices are higher than I wish to pay.
Plus if I’m setting up a business here I wish to understand the in’s and out’s more myself.
They have backed down slightly, I’m determined to prove my finance that I’m using none of this year in Taiwan is a personal and not business.

This portion of my tax return should be explanatory enough along with rental agent receipts and contract solely in my name no company name.

“a big pot of cash savings” lol
Many years ago a nosy tax lady noticed I didn’t file a 2009 return, almost 5 years later. I was a student at the time and didn’t know I needed to file. Well I told her that, and she insisted that I go to the school and get her forms from 5 years ago to prove that. I said to her that I wasn’t going to cross town to get her a paper that said I was a student that long ago and if she wanted it she could call them. Never heard about it again. She was pissed though

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I’m still laughing :rofl: When you throw the mafan back at them, there are 99% chances that they will just drop it. With a pissed face, but drop it.

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Is there a reason you guys go visit the tax office? Sounds risky. They can ask all kinds of questions you have to come up with the best answer for on the spot.

For those of us with nothing to hide, no issues.

I’m happy to report all my income, and I have bookmarked the different acts and policies that prove I don’t need to pay tax on those alternative incomes.

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They once asked me if I worked for a certain trading company and I denied all knowledge. They were like, are you sure? We got a check for you right here, you had too much deducted. :sweat_smile:

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Problem is the waste of time if you get into a debate with the wrong tax person

I ran into an issue with RSUs upon company IPO that showed up on my W2 on the year of IPO but California law says it’s taxed based on my work location 5 years ago when I was working there. So California wants 13%, US wants 35% and Taiwan wants 40 and I’m left with 10% because US law calculates foreign tax deduction allowance based on % time worked in Taiwan to earn the RSUs… which is 0%, so no foreign tax credits allowed.

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Or less risky. At my tax office, I’ve never needed to show documentation of how precisely I support my elderly parents overseas. Online (and at some other offices), it looks like I’d have to.

Plus so far the tax office has almost always saved me money from what I calculated.

But for me it’s a pleasant walk along the Danshui waterfront, and usually no wait. I’d feel differently if I had to trek halfway across town.

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Mine got disallowed at the 北門 office - I had proof of bank transfer w/ check, mom’s passport with name and age, but they wanted to see birth certificate which I didn’t have.

I believe it’s the proof of bank transfer (or evidence of some kind of support) that’s the variable from location to location. I’ve always shown the birth certificate and passport copies, as well as evidence that they were financially active in the previous year.

I no longer know what’s actually required - I just go in with the same documents every year.

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