The foreign representative cannot perform sales activities accordingly to the rules for rep. offices. According to the MOEA:
依本部92年10月29日經商字第09202221350號函略以，公司法第386條規定：「外國公司無意在中華民國境內設立分公司營業… …派其代表人在中華民國境內為業務上之法律行為時…」所稱「業務上之法律行為」，實務上，除簽約、投標、報價、採購外，尚包括議價。
So, signing contracts, bidding, giving estimates, purchasing and negotiation are legal activities for the rep.
Oh i think i get it, i cannot make money in the name of the representation office; however i can if i pass by the parent comany. Is it? 
Correct.
If you want to do this, start with getting a company set up in your home country and having the certificate of incorporation legalized by the Taiwanese office there, and start looking for an address in Taiwan where you can register the rep. office. Those are by far the two hardest steps. Otherwise it’s pretty easy.
A. Nice spam.
and
B. That is NOT cheap. I just paid 270$ for the entire service, from printing my docs for me, to FedEx to me in Taipei – and it was 5 day service, including shipping time.
Okay, it’s a bit off the topic.
Does a foreigner need an ARC to be a director of a limited company ? Of course in this case we’re talking about a foreigner shareholder who owns more than 33% of the shares in the company.
An ARC’s sole purpose is to allow you to reside in Taiwan. It in itself doesn’t allow or disallow what you can do. That said, most activities beyond tourism require permission from other office, like the labour board (CLA) or MOE or whatever.
As far as I know you can start, own and invest in any company, but if you want to work you need permission from the CLA.
And ya, very off topic.
Like most countries you can set up a Taiwanese company and be the director without ever setting foot in Taiwan. A few people in this thread have been caught out because they assume that being given approval to start a company is the same as approval to reside here. They are very different and very separate things.
I have been misunderstood.
It’s the role of Investment Agent vis-a-vis Director vis-a-vis Shareholder that I’m confused.
Does Investment Agent need to be a Director of the company ?
Does a Director need to have an ARC in order to be a Director ? The answer is ‘no’, I believe.
I guess you have been reading jusregal’s site in which case their phrasing is confusing and you can ignore any reference to an investment agent.
The part about ‘being caught out because they assume that being given approval to start a company is the same as approval to reside here’ has nothing to do with my question.
You mean to say Investment Agent never exists ?
To be absolutely clear the answer is no. ARCs/residency and directorship are totally separate. You can be director of a Taiwanese company without ever having set foot in Taiwan.
Now that I have the rep office set up, I’d like to open a bank account in Taiwan so that when the company in my home country invoices the Taiwanese customer, they can pay the invoice at a local bank, thus saving a lot of time and money.
Anyone doing this? Do I open use account as the foreign company or the rep office? Does local tax become an issue? How are other companies with rep offices receiving payments?
Thanks!
Sounds like what you want is a branch office, not a representative office.
All work is performed in Canada, so a branch office would be very inefficient cost wise. We already have a rep office, and it suits our needs perfectly. We’d just like to let customers pay in their own country because to date international bank fees etc are making it hard to attract customers.
I have a bank account in the rep office name and according to my accountant it’s fine to have the invoices paid into the local account, as long as the invoice is sent from the main company. Just bring all your papers to a bank of your choosing near where your ARC is registered and it should be fine. Just be aware that you need to make your clients understand that they’re paying the foreign company and can’t expect any local paper work or try to tax you.
Thanks for your reply.
So the client’s accounting should show the transaction as having been made to the foreign company, and not show anything regarding the rep office, right?
Speaking of which, did you apply for a tax number when you set up your rep office? This is in addition to the business number issued by the MOEA. A guy I know got a letter from the Taipei revenue service telling him to apply for a tax account after he set up his rep office about 3 weeks ago.
Nope, never got that as a rep office is a non profit organization, so it shouldn’t be taxable in any way afaik.
And yes, the transaction is meant to have been made to the foreign company, just paid into a local bank account
I was just informed by the MOEA that it’s not ok to receive payments via a rep office bank account. Not sure if I asked the right question but they seem to suggest it would count as “doing business”, which isn’t permitted. Their email is below.
回覆：
您好，很高興為您服務。
外國公司在台辦事處因不能有營利行為，故辦事處在台的銀行帳戶不會有客戶資金 的往來，有關客戶款項須直接匯入外國母 公司的帳戶。
如仍有疑問可於上班時間：上午8時30分 至下午5時30分（中午不休息）利用經濟 部商業司客服電話：412-1166洽詢。
E網通客服中心 啟
信件內容： 請問如果外國公司在台灣設立外商代表人 辦事處，辦事處在某家台灣銀行（例如國 泰銀行）所開的戶頭可否為母公司而收台 灣客戶的支款再匯到母公司本國戶頭？
[quote=“Lee Kohl”]I was just informed by the MOEA that it’s not ok to receive payments via a rep office bank account. Not sure if I asked the right question but they seem to suggest it would count as “doing business”, which isn’t permitted. Their email is below.
回覆：
您好，很高興為您服務。
外國公司在台辦事處因不能有營利行為，故辦事處在台的銀行帳戶不會有客戶資金 的往來，有關客戶款項須直接匯入外國母 公司的帳戶。
如仍有疑問可於上班時間：上午8時30分 至下午5時30分（中午不休息）利用經濟 部商業司客服電話：412-1166洽詢。
E網通客服中心 啟
信件內容： 請問如果外國公司在台灣設立外商代表人 辦事處，辦事處在某家台灣銀行（例如國 泰銀行）所開的戶頭可否為母公司而收台 灣客戶的支款再匯到母公司本國戶頭？[/quote]
Technically, this is correct. You will find when you deposit money into your Rep Office bank account, you have to list a code that explains what the money is for/where it comes from. There is no code for accepting money on behalf of the foreign company. It’s strange, so you have to get creative. I suggest asking your bank for a list of the deposit codes and coming up with something that fits your company situation.
Be aware that at some point the tax office might retroactively invite you to pay withholding tax or revenue tax on money wired out to the main company if performed by the representative office. On the other hand if the customer is wiring the money out to the main company, it’s their responsibility to deal with the tax issues.