Maximum transfer amount before taxes - and other details

Business Money
1

To those of you who have received money from abroad: what is the upper limit before they give you mafan like taxes?

I know cash limit, but bank transfer?

Transfer is from US to local bank, say 6 figures.

2

I didn’t think Taiwan had a gift tax. Anyway the bank doesn’t care except for wanting to know what the money is for

3

Less than NT500,000

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4

Since i’m in trading business example the amount invoice is USD103,200.13
Company received USD103,138.62

Bank deduct USD61.51 as handling fee.

5

Mmm, which one gets less taxes: a gift or a bill?

6

Actually we called the bank. They had no idea
 :wall:

7

Following

8

Why would there be a tax? (A fee I understand, sure) Are there taxes in other countries on money wires? How is a cash transfer, regardless of size, subject to tax? I don’t get it.

9

Correct me if wrong, but thousands of people (Taiwanese and foreigners) have brought huge amounts of (personal) money back into Taiwan from abroad for investment purposes, or even buying real estate.
I asked this of my local bank many years ago, about what happens if I wire a huge chunk into Taiwan, and the bank employee said that the standard procedure is to just call up the receiver and ask what the purpose is for. It is not for taxes to be assessed on the incoming wire, per se, but rather for checking off a box (item #) for some sort of Central Bank of China (Taiwan) regulations.
One could presume that most people just say “for real estate purchase”.
If the amount is big (in your view), then I would just recommend to talk personally to a higher-up employee in the bank and say, I am wiring in money “tomorrow” or on some date. Just give advance notice. Then give the employee a phone # to contact you.
Being a bit proactive can smooth the process.

10

Well, they promised to call the moment the money gets here.

My gut feeling is that the Government will get its part one way or another.

11

I have a similar situation now. Hence, wiring in money from a foreign country below 500,000NTD is subject to tax in Taiwan? if so how much?

12

In my experience transferring money to Taiwan (purchase property and associated mortgage) there is no tax due to Taiwan for wiring money to Taiwan - they may ask where the money is coming from and why (which is not unreasonable). A word of caution though, from the sending (overseas) bank choose to send in your local currency NOT Taiwan $ (using TWD you will receive a much lower rate).

13

Thanks for your reply! It is for a transaction less than 500,000NTD. So, local currency → USD → NTD. The bank advised me to convert local currency to USD (from the overseas bank) and deposit it in the Taiwan’s multi currency account (in USD). later convert them to NTD. They even mentioned that 20% tax will be deducted by the tax department.

14

I think it depends on the money. Is it income from this year that’s post-tax at country of origin or is this a “gift” from 3rd party?

Gift tax annual exemption is allowed $2,440,000 NTD. Overseas income over 6.7 million NT the tax is 20% on income above this amount (I believe this is post-tax at country of origin).

https://investtaiwan.nat.gov.tw/showPage?lang=eng&search=71#:~:text=7%2C500%2C000-,Gift%20Tax,per%20taxpayer%20annually%20is%20allowed.
Taiwan Tax FAQ - Foreigners in Taiwan - ć€–ćœ‹äșș朹è‡ș灣

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15

I have transferred from USD to Taiwan and the bank translated it into NT$
The amounts were >NT$500,000 and I did not have to pay any tax
TBH this seems really strange - maybe the bank is taking a 20% processing fee and calling it a tax?
BTW - I pay USD35 for transfers

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16

Our company paid withholding tax on payments going OUT of Taiwan, but never on incoming transfers.

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17

I doubt they’re doing that. Usually banks in Taiwan are quite competitive (in terms of rates and charges I mean, not their slow 1985-style service). A 20% fee on incoming transfers would be bizarre, as you say. Maybe 0.20%. I think Mega Bank is in that ball park.

My guess is that OP either misheard or the bank employee was misinformed. They should probably just go back and check.

18

You can wire up to $2.4 million a year as a gift tax free.

1 Like
19

This sounds odd to me too.

20

I am Sorry to Everyone. I assumed there was a communication problem so far.

  1. Today i checked with the another branch of Tax dept as mentioned in the post, “Gift tax annual exemption is allowed $2,440,000 NTD”
  2. The 20% tax (for a foreign source income) deduction was mentioned at another branch but not sure on what basis they mentioned.
    I find a lag in their flow in explaining things. But thanks for all your reply and discussion.