Another point towards recent comments is that it seems some are looking at a representative office as an ‘easy’ way to set up a business and having the main office registered in a tax haven will somehow be better.
First of all, registering a branch company or registering an entirely local company is not that much harder. The capitalization requirements for a limited company (which would apply to branch or local) has already been lowered to NT$250k and they are talking about lowering it further. For most starting a business you will need that much anyways, so that is really only a barrier to someone who wants to set up a small noodle shop or part time home based business. The second hurdle is that you will need to show a minimum level of revenue each year to keep the company president ARC, but that has also loosened up a lot. I don’t remember the exact numbers but it was low enough that almost any real full time business could easily make the requirement. The third hurdle is that you need to remit the minimum capital from abroad OR show tax receipts showing that the money was legally earned by you in Taiwan (e.g. your tax returns). Again, that should not be a problem for most.
So yes, a representative office is easier, but branch/local is NOT that much harder. If your planned activities are not really what the representative office company was designed for (soliciting and signing contracts for customers and suppliers on behalf of a foreign company), then try for a branch/local company. It will give you a lot more flexibility in what you can do.
Next question is branch or local. If you are setting up a foreign head office only to save on taxes, think twice. Tax rates in Taiwan are not that high. There is the revenue tax (also often called sales tax or vat though it isn’t really quite the same) which is only 5%, and you can deduct all expenses which you have a legal invoice for (fapiao), so if you have a lot of expenses you can keep this to a minimum. Salary tax rates are low, so if you are paying the bulk of what would be profit as salary (to yourself and/or spouse, etc.) then you probably won’t end up with a whole lot of business income tax. On the other hand if you remit your dividends to the main office you will likely have to pay 20% tax, so your tax savings can evaporate right there. It may not be true for all companies. If your expenses are low or the profit very high then it may be more advantageous as a branch.
If your business and work activities are going to be all or mostly in Taiwan then it is very possible that a local company would be more tax efficient.
Of course you should talk to a qualified accountant experienced with foreign owned businesses to discuss your particular case, as not every solution will fit every situation. My point is simply that a branch/local company is not that terribly difficult to set up, and that having a head office in a tax haven is not necessarily the most tax efficient way to do things, so one should investigate what would best work in your own case.