What are the costs and procedures for opening/running a company in Taiwan as a foreigner?
A bit of Googling found a price estimate but it seems to be excessive. In other countries you pay a few dollars and it is done.
Also, can anyone recommend a good English speaking lawyer and accountant who can advise on the legal aspects of opening a company here - e.g. Occupational Safety & Health, any relevant laws, tax reporting, any other obligations, etc. Inexpensive ones are preferred.
there are plenty of threads about this, use the search function.
in the past ive consulted with jusregal cpa firm (google them for their contact details) and received courteous and professional help, there could be cheaper options, but i didnt look.
as for set up cost: around 50K NT$, not including your own capital requirements.
Minimum youâll pay 2000-3000 a month for an accountant, and 1500 a month for a virtual office (which youâll need for a company address). Other than that, if you do the whole registration yourself, which isnât hard, you wonât have any additional major costs. I am in the final stages of registering an LLC right now and have managed to do everything myself. Iâve used an accountant once, which was for verifying my capital amount. Itâs still important to have an accountant though for processing stuff post-registration.
What kind of visa is needed to set up this kind of company?
As an extreme example, letâs say you donât even live in Taiwan. Are you still allowed to open up a company in Taiwan, as a foreigner?
Does this kind of company have minimum paid-in-capital or minimum revenue requirements? As an example, if you want to form a company with the goal of acquiring a Resident visa for Entrepreneurs, then you need to form a company with âat least NTD500,000 in paid-in capitalâ and the revenue requirement is that âin the second year, in order to renew your residency permit, your company needs to reach a turnover of at least NTD3,000,000.â Reference: Citizenship by investment in Taiwan | Passports.IO .
Only to help you set up the company and give you advice, right? I donât imagine you would need to keep them around afterwards (unless you just canât figure out how to pay taxes on your own).
No, in fact you donât really need an accountant when setting up the company (apart from the capital verification letter). You only really need an accountant after setup because there are lots of things such as VAT that are a massive hassle. Plus, if you start doing your own books, it will be very difficult to later on find an accountant because they will become liable for any past mistakes you make if they take you on as a customer (according to my CPA).
Weâre talking about a foreign freelancer trying to get around visa laws by starting a one-man business here, right? Would you still need an accountant if your only expense is salary for yourself?
I didnât get the impression that the OP was trying to start a larger company with multiple employees or anything like that.
If you donât already have an ARC, you canât set up a business by yourself. In that case youâd need the help of one of the many companies that do it for you.
Right, I know that part. But do you really need to keep an accountant around even after the business is set up and youâve gotten your ARC?
Itâs not a legal requirement as far as I know, but I donât think anyone would recommend not hiring one. Taiwanâs whole system is fucked, and itâs extremely difficult for locals to even understand to do all this stuff, let alone foreigners. Unless you need a visa or your customers need çŒç„š, I wouldnât bother registering a company here, you would be much better off doing so in one of the many jurisdictions where government procedures arenât so ridiculous.
I see. Well I guess I will refrain from registering a business here, and just continue to be a freelancer. I can already legally do business here anyway.
If your customers donât need çŒç„š and you arenât hiring anyone, Iâd say itâs pointless to register a business
Yes but if you donât have an ARC youâll need to go through an agency to help you do it.
thats silly, because if you open a company there are many ways to decrease your tax burden, and an accountant can help you with that.
No, the company is not for getting around visa laws.
The purposes of the company are to:
What about a sole proprietorship route? It could work for the above, and be cheaper and more streamlined for someone just starting out, than a plc.
No, you donât need to register a company to bill your clients or to issue invoices.
This is not true. You can most definitely start without an ARC.
Limited company every time. There are almost no advantages to a sole proprietorship in Taiwan
But you need to do it through an agent if you havenât got an ARC, no? Thatâs what investment comission told me when I asked whether or not I should do it through an agent. Since I had an ARC they said itâs pointless. Come to think of it, Iâd imagine one of the reasons you need to do it through an agent if you havenât got an ARC is that you wouldnât been able to open the ç±ćèæ¶é without an ARC.
Donât you need one to bill them/issue them to companies inside Taiwan, and for fapiao?
(Iâm not sure - everyone I issue invoices to is abroad so Iâve never bothered.)
