I was told at my school that I couldn’t file taxes until May, but I am leaving Taiwan at the end of May and need to renew my ARC before then. I have to file and give the paperwork to my school, so that they can get my work permit.
Does anyone know if and how I can file early? Or was I given wrong information?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
[quote=“rightniao”]I was told at my school that I couldn’t file taxes until May, but I am leaving Taiwan at the end of May and need to renew my ARC before then. I have to file and give the paperwork to my school, so that they can get my work permit.
Does anyone know if and how I can file early? Or was I given wrong information?
Thanks for any help you can offer.[/quote]
Locals can only file their taxes between May 1st and 31st. Foreigners can file anytime between February 1st and May 31st, and this is allowed for the very reason that you are encountering.
Your employer may not be aware of this and may be treating you under the rules for locals. Explain the situation to them and ask them to call the tax office if they want to confirm this.
Your employer will need to issue your tax withholding statements for last year. They may be reluctant to do this as they may prefer to wait and do all of them at the same time, but if you need to leave then time is of the essence. You don’t need any specific reason nor documentation to get your withholding certificates now. Don’t forget to ask for a speedy return when you lodge your taxes.
Thanks for the prompt reply. Will I get the paperwork I need to show that I filed on the same day as filing?
If I understand your question correctly then ‘yes’.
Once you have the withholding statement you can go straight to the tax office and file that day. The calculations will be done in front of you, and you will be given a slip that states the amount of your refund.
A notification of your refund being available to pick up will be sent to your listed address so make sure that you get that right. For reasons that I fail to understand, it can take months to get this notification. You can do a quick return however, which I believe only takes a matter of days to process so check this out with the counter staff when you are doing your return.
It is all in English and the staff are very helpful. Take your ARC, passport, pay slips, withholding statements, employment contract, rent receipts, and rental contract. You may not need all of these, but it is better to have them with you than have to return again another day.