How to file tax when exiting Taiwan?

I will be moving out of Taiwan early next year.

I’m planning to file 2020 tax in February before I leave, is that possible?

I will get another bonus the year after exit and probably need to file tax for that too? Or it doesn’t matter since I will be taxed at 18%?

You don’t really have to file if you are leaving. Are you expecting to get a rebate?

Yes it is, you can make a “special” declaration, talk to you local tax office.

Assuming your company withhold 18% however check if you will be tax liable that year when asking the tax office about your early declaration.

It’s a far better idea to file, particularly if you ever intend on returning to Taiwan and/or you intend to maintain a good relationship with the employer you are leaving.

It’s good to tie up things instead of contributing to the stereotype that foreigners are scofflaws that just run away from their debts to their own countries. This is counterintuitive in promoting our opportunities for dual nationality.

Totally agree with you about this, but the double standards here are silly. I mean very few landlords pay taxes but locals aren’t up in arms about that. And there are a lot more landlords than tax scofflaw foreigners.

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To be honest I don’t think the tax office really has an issue with this. If I was leaving at year end I’d just leave and then head into the tax office when I came back. They would either give me my rebate or I’d pay what I owe them. The fact you don’t need to pay your tax to get an exit stamp anymore suggests no one is really worried about this anymore.

That’s right, but we’re the ones without rights. Let’s put our happy faces on and show the government that accepting us is not an electoral risk.

:grinning:

Happy faces everyone!

If someone comes in after 5 years without filing taxes? I dunno if I wanna take that risk. Taiwan is a lot more lenient than western countries but… I’d rather not force them to crack down.

It takes an hour to do.

I’m probably a bit biased cos I once did nine years in one go. :rofl:

Such a nice tax regime here. They once had a rebate check ready for me and I tried to deny I’d ever worked for the company in question (under the table payment).

If you are leaving the country and do not plan to return to Taiwan, you must file an early tax return within 10 days before you leave.

Except that you don’t have to. Why they write “must” I have no idea. If they want to enforce this then we need to go back to the exit stamp system.

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