Legal Process of hiring an Independent Contractor

Legal Legal - Work
1

I would like to hire an independent contractor who is located and will work entirely outside Taiwan.

My questions are:

  1. Do I need to apply for any approvals, registrations, or notifications with any Taiwanese government agencies before hiring the contractor, or can I simply enter into a contract with them?
  2. If all of the work is performed outside Taiwan, am I required to withhold any tax from the payments I make to the contractor?

For context, I operate a limited software company in Taiwan and would be engaging the contractor for software development services. I currently do not have any employees, so I have not registered for labor insurance, health insurance, or any other employee-related labor programs.

2

No and no. But you have to pay a 20% tax in Taiwan.

3

well the 20% tax is the annual tax, right?

4

No. You need to pay a 20% tax for all imported services.

Hiring overseas workers in their own countries for their services remotely has a 20% duty on top of what you pay them.