Is there a culture of tax dodging in Taiwan?

Definitely false. I made more than that while I was still working there and I know plenty of people that also do.

Granted, not terribly common…

I think that aside from the Scandinavians, nobody really WANTS to pay tax though I sort of see it as somewhat necessary if reasonable and used properly.

Think the main problem with Taiwan is the tax code which seems to really favor small business owners (like allowing them to deduct all sorts of things via 統一編號 though I think there are limits?) as well as the extreme cash culture (which prevents tracking of revenue - ie. I had to pay my kids private school tuition in cash a while back which just seemed absurd to me)

Of course, not an expert so apologize if I’m off base here…

I do not think you understand what soviet control really means. my parents escaped from the soviet union, the usa is far far from it.
the super rich just have better accountants and the ability to play the tax system

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The top tax bracket is 4.53 million, not 3 million.

The U.S.A. has a long way to go before it transforms into the U.S.S.A. but it’s on its way. It already has its first police state dissident in exile in Moscow of all places.

Ever heard of Edward Snowden?

Not to mention the police have so much power in the USA, where they could basically murder someone and get much less punishment for it (if they are even punished at all).

When a Taiwanese cop fires a gun for ANY reason, they are extensively investigated. 9 times out of 10 there are criminal or civil penalties because the use of force rule here is very strict and strictly applied as well. Same in the USA except cops often gets benefit of the doubt. Here they don’t.

I saw an article on Yahoo news where a former cop said he wouldn’t be a cop even if the pay was 100k because the job sucks and the government/people/courts are completely against you.

You should actually look at some SEC filings. Companies pay less than they should, but they still pay plenty of tax.

Is access to schools based on Hukou? What happens when someone lives far from where they are registered.

Yes and life goes on.

I really don’t know honestly. I never tried to enroll anyone into schools.

But you know some of the latest coronavirus based government assistance had to not be based on houkou, for example the voucher and the various relief money because they know if it was based on houkou a lot of people would be left behind. Like the voucher given out in 2008 was based on houkou. The fact that lots of people travel on election day also tells you lots of people live outside of their houkou. You have to go to that district to vote.

This is also why often the condition to marry is to buy a house, because this simplifies issue with houkou and school enrollment.

So what? They don’t pay enough.

And the stores with the famous yellow sticker!

When I had my luthier business registered I got the yellow sticker too. I needed it too, because you get the yellow sticker if you make below 100,000 a month, and for a business that’s nothing. A lot of commercial properties charge more than that for rent!

If you notice the stores with the yellow sticker it’s mom and pop stores. If you saw it at 7-11 then something is seriously wrong.

Can i know the school so i can send them my deepest respects for mainting a cash culture. It will be the last stand, and i love that people are smart enough to stand by it still!

Tax dodging is the sport of the rich. The IRS admitted they don’t do many audits on rich people because it’s too complicated. It’s probable the same for other tax agencies around the world.

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Friends of the wife recently bought an apartment with cash (mostly from their parents of course).

The real estate contract and govenment records said they paid X, but they actually paid the sellers Y, where Y was about +20% more than X.

Is this is a known tax dodge? I can’t really understand why the buyers agreed to it (seems like there could be disadvantages down the road).

You realize you don’t have to pay taxes in Taiwan to claim the foreign earned income exclusion in the US, right?

You do for the foreign tax credit, which is useful if you’re paying tax on income above the FEIE and foreign housing exclusions.

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