This is a Taiwan government website. I’m sure they can trust this.
So there is income reporting for income earned in Taiwan which is NOT you.
There is income earned from an overseas entity ( This is YOU ) where it is YOU and NOT the NZ Company that files an income tax return. No withholding taxes are required.
Just to confirm Satellite, it would be advised for me to use my NZ passport instead? The idea is not to be a tax resident and stay less than 183 days?
Thanks Mataiou. Appreciate the help.
I am over 36 so this shouldn’t be a problem 
thanks!
Yes. You cannot be a foreigner if you enter on your ROC passport.
Also as a tourist if you purchase goods here you can get taxes back at the vender or at the aiport when you leave. My son lives in Australia and he wanted some watches he could not buy in Australia. I had a visiting friend on a tourist entry get the tax refund for me last week.
Cannot do this if you use ROC passport.
If you enter on your ROC passport you become a Taiwan tax resident if you stay more than 30 days in a tax year.
Aged like a fine wine you have Henry.
I get pinged from my HSBC HK for an incoming payment on Friday. I look at it and like damn, that’s not the right amount. The accountants at the firm who paid me got the exchange rate wrong for US$ and underpaid me. Instead of paying the balance they want me to roll it over to the next invoice payment. I’m going to hit them up for lost interest and late payment fees lol.
Account that lol
@HCHC A question for you. Does your NZ passport have the same name as your Taiwan passport? Often when people naturalize they may have a different name than their birth name.
So for instance, I was born in Australia, but when naturalizing in Taiwan we are forced to use a Chinese name we cannot use our birth names. So I have three citizenships all using different names. This can come in handy.
I was originally born in Taiwan and moved to NZ when little. I adopted an English first name, with the middle names / surname to my Chinese Name (albeit in English spelling). Is this an advantage?
OK if you were born in Taiwan you have an ID Card. Your HHR is inactive. To make it active you simply move back on your Taiwan passport, get an address and register. But this you are not doing.
So your NZ passport name may not match your Taiwan name. Also it is written in English not in Chinese as with your ROC passport.
It just means that in some cases you may have banking services in different names. For instance I have accounts with HSBC in Hong Kong use different names and nationalities. These accounts are not linked and as far as HSBC would be aware these are two different individuals.
My bank accounts in Taiwan use my Chinese name. My accounts in Australia use my Australian name and my Australian accounts list me as non resident for tax purposes and list my my tax residency as Taiwan.
In your case your tax residency is in NZ. Now lets say you decided to have a a HSBC account in HK. HSBC HK allows foreign citizens who do not live in HK to have accounts there. Some foreign citizens can open an account online. It can be convenient to have bank accounts you can access if you have issues with one account elsewhere.
I do a lot of diving overseas and sometimes using my HSBC from HK is better than using my ATM card from Taiwan. HSBC HK has a credit card that can be billed in US$ or HK$ so its nice if being billed in US$ as no exchange rate to worry about.
If OP enters Taiwan on his NZ passport, then he’ll be living here on a tourist visa which means he’s not allowed to work.
What am I missing here?
well, it is a very grey area, he is not going to work for a TW company and not doing work for TW customers (AFAIK).
There’s no grey area, you can’t work while residing in Taiwan on a tourist visa. Not working for a TW company just means it’s harder to get caught, but doesn’t make it legal.
If he wants to work, he’ll need to enter Taiwan on his ROC passport.
Actually this has already been confirmed. Immigration will tell you to go to the WDA and the WDA will tell you that if there is no Taiwan employer and the company has no office in Taiwan you don’t need a permit.
Stop spreading misinformation.
Thank you Satellite! I think you’ve nailed it pretty much. I will be using my NZ Passport (which doesn’t match my Taiwan name), so likely will open an account with HSBC (right next to my apartment).
Thanks!
to open an account as a foreigner you need first to visit the national immigration agency to get a tax id number. With this banks can open an account for you. Not all banks will open accounts if you don’t have residency here.
This is false. That’s why there’s a non-resident rate.
It’s been 2–3 years since I read the laws and someone else is welcome to look them up (I can’t be bothered at the moment), but I can see why the NZ company thinks this. IIRC, they’re written in a way focused on Taiwanese companies (for obvious reasons) without really addressing foreign companies employing people working remotely from Taiwan. The problem here is finding something written by the Taiwanese government that will stop an employer in a stricter country worrying.
OP’s company isn’t the first to worry about this, btw. It’s come up at least a couple of times with respect to the gold card (because many are in similar situations so their employers worried about this).
Non-residents staying >90 days are still supposed to file.
I agree. You could always contact the tax office. I suspect they’ll give you a different answer to that you’ve gotten here.
See the second point in your link (emphasis added):
For foreigners who stay in the R.O.C. over 90 days, but less than 183 days, the income derived from sources in the R.O.C. shall be withheld according to the withholding tax rate and paid at the respective sources. However, incomes derived from overseas earned through providing services in Taiwan will have to be reported prior to departure. For those who are staying in the R.O.C. through May 31st of the current year, the taxpayer should file their last year’s income before the said time.
The tax office has been pretty clear that they consider this kind of situation as Taiwan-sourced income (after 90 days):
He is not deriving income from IN the ROC. Just report overseas income before departure. On the day you leave lol when taking a night flight
