Hi all, quick question about taxes on gifted money: I’m an APRC holder working as a freelance graphic designer. My parents wish to very kindly send me some money (about 250,000 ntd) which seems would be classed as “gift money”. Some tax websites say this money will be taxed at 10%, but others say if the amount is under 2.2 million NTD (which it is) it won’t be taxed? I called my local tax office and the person I spoke with seemed to be sure it would taxed at 10% and didn’t seem aware of any 2.2 million threshold etc.
Just wondered if anybody had a similar experience and could shed some light. Cheers in advance!
I’ve not attempted to do what you are doing, but in reverse (me sending money to parents) I have found that indicating “Family Matters” (perhaps more so than “Gift”) on the remittance has been helpful.
Hat tip to some Indian guys I saw at my bank doing this in the early days! That is where I learned this phrase.
The Taipei National Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance stated that when a foreign individual transfers funds from an overseas account as a gift to a person in Taiwan, the transfer is not subject to gift tax but must be included in the recipient’s basic income for the calculation of the basic tax amount (minimum tax).
According to the minimum tax system, if overseas income exceeds NT$1 million, it must be included in the individual’s basic income for calculating the basic tax amount. When a foreigner gifts overseas assets to a person in Taiwan, the recipient must report this as overseas income and is subject to the minimum tax.
The Taipei National Taxation Bureau provided an example: Mr. A, a U.S. citizen, and Mr. B, who resides in Taiwan, are uncle and nephew. In 2023, Mr. A transferred USD 50,000 (approximately NT$1.6 million) from his U.S. bank account to Mr. B as a gift. Although the overseas funds gifted by Mr. A are not considered domestic assets and are exempt from gift tax, the amount Mr. B received exceeds NT$1 million. Therefore, when Mr. B files his 2023 income tax return, he must convert the USD 50,000 to New Taiwan Dollars using the exchange rate at the time of the gift and include it in his basic income for calculating the basic tax amount.
Should be clear here that this is basic income and income basic tax, which has a specific and non-obvious meaning not really captured by “foreign income” (which is also kind of ambiguous).
From what OP wrote and your link, it seems it should be below the NT$6.7 million where they need to pay tax and below the NT$1 million where they need to declare it.
I’ve never come across this NT$2.2 million figure while reading about tax stuff — it seems a bit random. Maybe you could provide a link where you read this?
You didn’t FIFM. I meant “below”. OP said NT$250k in their first post, which is below NT$1 million.
Good to know, thanks for explaining. So it seems better not to treat it as a (Taiwan-sourced) gift as already said, but even if it was a gift, it would be below the exemption amount?
What about sending money to yourself from abroad? (e.g. my foreign bank account to my Taiwan bank account). I’ve sent much more than the $1 million limit and have never declared it. I send about 10 million NT to myself one year, and never declared it, and have never had a problem.
There is no limit on you sending your own money to yourself. No need to decare it other than incoming personal funds. Banks don’t check what the funds are used for.
I can’t remember the exact reason I used. I think it was Living expenses, or repaying loan when it was sent to my wife’s account … something like that.
Ask the tax office. I only send to my own personal account if I am in Taiwan. I did send my wife funds a couple of times when overseas but no issues with that. She just advises banks its for living costs.
You can only take a very limited amount of cash into the country, over a certain amount must be declared. If you don’t declare it they confiscate it all. The cash option isn’t a great idea.
So declare it. Taiwan isn’t digging into foreign funds for their tax purposes. They actually can’t. It’s just a number and a tick box. From mom. From dad. Savings account someone help you send. Forumosa doesn’t want too many details that seem grey. But this is easy peasy.
And if not travelling physically, bank transfers are jsut as easily declared when the bank calls wink its all legal unless you are doing something illegal.
Taxing money already taxed then transported (and detaining/stealing from people like thebgovernment does) is arguably more shady than just passing someone a wad that they owned and paid taxes on in the first place.
Edit. Not legal advice Just ethical advice with a hint of what works for now until they take away cash and rights if society allows full on digital action of finances, good fucking luck doing anything but being a “slave”.
Just ethical advice with a hint of what works for now until they take away cash and rights 
if society allows full on digital action of finances, good fucking luck doing anything but being a “slave”.