Any advice for an Aussie 39 year man about to come to Taiwan - the earliest I can get there is late July and looking to do the ESL thingy.
Is that time OK to get jobs - I think I remember someone saying it was very near the peak season, but I’m not sure if late July is past it or before it.
I have dual US/Aussie nationality if that’s any help or hindrance or makes no difference. I could fake a Yank accent if needed, but I’d rather speak in my normal accent which is not a very strong or broad Aussie accent.
I know not 1 word of Chinese, but as they say fools rush in…,
Anytime’s a good time.
Your U.S. passport is more marketable. I believe if you have a U.S. passport you won’t have to “fake” anything.
No need to speak Chinese, but it might help.
[quote=“miltownkid”]Anytime’s a good time.
Your U.S. passport is more marketable. I believe if you have a U.S. passport you won’t have to “fake” anything.
No need to speak Chinese, but it might help.[/quote]
Agreed. If you’ve got a US passport and a degree of some description you’ll be OK.
Anytime is okay as said above, but just remember the 183 day rule. If you are in Taiwan for more than 183 days you don’t have to pay 20% on your income the first year. You say you cannot come until the end of July, calculate your days and save yourself some money come the end of the year.
As we all know, 20% tax is deducted from your wage for the first 183 days (six months) that you are in Taiwan. After this period the tax reduces to 6%. Overall most teachers need to pay 6% (teachers earning higher wages may be in the 13% bracket) so you can get a refund in the difference of the tax that you actually paid over the tax you should have paid (6%).
I had previously believed that this 20% was to act as a bond that would encourage people to stay long term in Taiwan by taxing short-term workers at a higher rate. By staying longer than six months you would get this money back. This seemed to make sense to me and I believed that it would achieve its objective.
After a recent meeting with the director of the foreign affairs section of the tax office here in Taipei it appears that my initial understanding may have been wrong. She assured me that the regulations stipulated that if you were in Taiwan for less than 183 days in the tax year (January to December) then you would forfeit the full 20% tax paid for that period of time. By this logic, in order to receive a full refund of the 20% tax deduction, one would need to arrive prior to June 30th. She went on to stipulate that anyone who arrived for work in Taiwan early enough that their contract would enable them to work for 184 or more days in that tax year, are effectively exempt from paying the initial 20% and can start paying tax at the standard rate of 6%. This is directly from what she told me but doesn
[quote=“hexuan”][quote=“miltownkid”]Anytime’s a good time.
Your U.S. passport is more marketable. I believe if you have a U.S. passport you won’t have to “fake” anything.
No need to speak Chinese, but it might help.[/quote]
Agreed. If you’ve got a US passport and a degree of some description you’ll be OK.[/quote]
So even tho I have an Aussie accent, my US passport will be an advantage over my Aussie one?
