I am not a financial person.
All I know is I have been paying taxes in TW now for 5 years. 90% of the time at the full 18%.
I hold a spousal visa and should be taxed at 6% in my income bracket.
Can I claim anything back from the taxation powers?
If this is a stupid question I apologise for my ignorance, I have just received an Australian tax credit. All done online and seamless.
Thank you for any guidance.
yes of course, and too bad you havent done so so far.
does your wife file individually? or with you?
Take your employment documents and any proof you have been paying taxes to the tax buro and file for this year and previous years, you should be getting a tax refund.
Awesome man.
My ineptitude might net me a handsome sum.
Why is it not all on their computers? Perplexes me. In Aus they know everything.
Separate to wife.
I have been paying the tax people every time I get paid. Thousands of payslips. They have no record of this?
They have record of this, but it is your responsibility to report and claim any returns, its not the government’s responsibility to look out for you and pay you back 
governments usually like to keep the money to themselves.
you dont have to bring thousands of pay slips, each employer should give you a “withholding and non witholding tax statement” once a year, 扣繳憑單. This is the proof you paid and how much. Take these documents to the tax office and they can assist you in filing.
pls note - tax reporting period finishes in a few days.
So it looks like I am showing up with a ton of payslips.
What happens then is a mystery.
I wish they had more robust online services.
How much longer do I have?
you dont have to come with a ton of pay slips. your employer is supposed to issue you a tax statement once a year.
you can do it online, but only for this year, if you have unclaimed previous years you need to go to the office in person.
it finishes 31 May.
I have not received a tax statement. Dodgy buxibans mostly.
Lots of part time gigs. Working multiple jobs.
All I have are the pay stubs clearly indicating tax contributions. Is this enough?
Get all the documentation and take it to the tax office, including payment stubs, bank passbooks contracts etc
I am going to pitch up to the tax bureau today and see what happens.
in that case you have to bring the payslips as proof that you paid. if the buxibans are indeed dodgy and didnt pay, you have proof that you were cheated, and then the tax authority will go after your old bosses.
Good luck!
Yeah. What a terrible industry.
Okay so I have a lot of digital payslips, bank statements etc spanning years.
The main thing is is that I always seem to miss the 183 day rule then up en leave only to return. Rinse and repeat. I have been paying the 18% tax the majority of the time here.
Is it enough to show up at the Tax Bureau with my laptop. Can I do this online rather?
Someone even told me Taiwan spoueses are not subject to the 183 day rule. I need a rebate because I am ill.
I’m kind of confused by your situation. So you’ve been working here for five years (or 4-5 tax years, let’s say?), and just never filed?
If I were you, I’d go through all your pay slips for every year you’ve been here and enter everything into a spreadsheet to calculate your total income for each year. From there it’s pretty simple to calculate how much tax you should have paid (just subtract the exemptions and deductions and multiply by whatever percentage applies).
If you stayed <183 days in some years (I don’t really understand what you wrote), your tax rate for that year would be 18% anyway.
I wouldn’t just show up with your laptop - they’re helpful, but I don’t think they’ll be that interested going through a load of files for you if you haven’t bothered trying to do at least the basic organization yourself. Anything that was properly declared should be on their system anyway, but if you want to make sure it’s done correctly it’s in your interest to know what you should have paid and try to understand the situation (the tax office can make mistakes too).
for this, you should file your tax jointly with your spouse who is a tax resident.
added 1
For past years you stayed <183 days and your spouse already filed tax separately, your tax was already completed, and you cannot change it to joint filing. for the last year, you can change it within 6 months after the deadline.
added 2
if your income was less than 1.5 times of the basic salary, ~37k per month this year, your tax rate should be ~6%, so you could still get back some money, if 18% was deducted.
I just know I paid my tax.
If you your employers have filed your taxes then it is. As you do not live in Australia why don’t you declare yourself a non tax resident there?