Ok, here is the situation…need some advice on what to do. Ok, well I am on my second ARC, the first one, the school told me they were deducting taxes from my monthly pay of about 14000 a month. However, when they reported the tax, they didnt report any tax being taken out. I made 168000 from the job and now I am faced with having to pay the taxes right now as I am leaving on Aug 10th. My school that I am working at now, which takes the taxes from the check themselves, which is what I thought every employer in the world did, notified me today that I need to go pay the govt the tax money from my first job. I actually remember paying the school the tax money in one lump sum months ago, which was about 6000 NT, on top of that they kept telling me that my taxes were being taken out. However I am stuck in a dilemma, I really dont want to have to pay the taxes twice for the same job, they are really trying to screw me. If I go to the airport without having gone to the tax office, will I make it out of the country or will I be flagged what are the chances of making it out free without having to pay??? How much tax do you think I will have to pay from the 168000 I made?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am running out of time??
How did you get your second work permit without proof payment of taxes for the preceeding year? I know it’s possible if the dates fall just right … but that is unlikely …
They are required to deduct taxes and to pay them over but as many know by experience, some simply screw you over and the government as well. My first approach would be to talk to the first school and be persuasive without pissing them off. If that fails, I would go to the local tax office and ask for help from one of the English speaking service people. Usually a phone call from a tax investigator will take care of the problem. Somewhere in the depths of this topic I recall someone did this and the employer ended up paying over double the tax that was supposed to be paid and the employee did not have to pay at all.
If those options fail you may still be OK at the airport. I understand that some have been asked for a tax receipt but I also know that people come and go all the time without inquiry. I guess I would not wait until the last day on my visa to leave. Go early enough so that if there is a problem, you can do the unthinkable and pay again rather than overstay.
Currently, tax deductions from income are computerized, so there presumably is a record of all your declared income and tax deductions.
Do you have pay records from your original school? If they made deductions from your pay for tax, and didn’t hand them over to the tax department, then they have commited a crime and are liable.
But you need some records of your pay from them to prove it. Did they give you cash, or direct deposit? Did you get a pay stub with gorss income, deductions etc? Can you prove anytning?
Basically, the school just paid me cash, I have no record or receipts. I actually, if I remember correctly, just had to file my taxes. It has been months, so I dont really remember, but I do remember getting a tax receipt saying how much I earned and how much was deducted which was 0 dollars. This agent told me to go to the tax office, basically tell them that the school screwed me over and that I have no money just a flight out of the country and try to bargain some kind of deal with them. If I do for some horrible reason have to pay my taxes again, does anybody know how much I would have to pay. I made 168000NT while I worked at the job, the funny thing is that I didnt even stay for the entire year, only about 10 months or so, and they still reported that I was paid for 12 months of work. Very shady school. So if I am flagged at the airport, is it possible to settle this at the airport?? The worst thing that could happen is if I go to the airport, get stopped, and cant settle it there and have to return to Taipei!!! HELP
You might consider just going to the tax people and telling them your story. Then your name would be clean, so no probs if you wanted to come back some day. Would it suck to not be allowed back into Taiwan, or have trouble getting a work visa in future? Or if had to pay a steep fine in the future to normalize things? You might be able to sneak out, but they’d connect the dots sooner or later. If you get zotted at the airport, would you have enough cash? Otherwise, you’d miss your flight and maybe forfeit your ticket. People leave without paying taxes on the pretense of going on vacation, but they probably are not on an “unpaid back taxes” list.
Oh, re amount of taxes: Probably 10%, ie about 16.8k. Not too terrible.
I think your questions have been answered as fully as anyone can under the circumstances. Get over to the tax office and ask for assistance. But trying to close the barn door now seems like the wrong time. Protect yourself first and foremost.
Others who read about these problems should take heed. Don’t just take an envelope of cash without a monthly accounting. Any reputable school is not going to have a problem with this. Keep your records straight. Nobody would just take cash in your country without some records. Ask for a direct deposit. Again no reputable school is going to object. It’s easier and safer for them too. If they wont give you records and are sponsoring your ARC, they are going to screw you over. Of course, if you are working illegally for them, well that’s a whole new problem and those workers will soon discover that this has gotten a great deal more problematic over the last couple years. Don’t work for them. Move on and find a decent job. Of course the OP did this but 10 months is too long to wait. Protect yourself first.
I guess I was being naive when they just simply told me they were taking taxes out of my monthly salary. I should of asked for reciepts. Now I may end up paying my taxes twice which is the last thing I want to do. This school is trying to tell me that what I paid for was my health card, which I found out was bullshit since ur health card is only 200NT a month on top of the monthly taxes. I am waiting from a response on what to do from my arc job now, they seem to know what they are talking about. If I know I am gonna be stopped at the airport I will try to sort this out with the tax office. Thanks for the help