I know this now, but I didn’t know it 48 hours ago. I agree it was dumb that he didn’t read up on this, but in many countries you can take out unlimited cash as long as you declare it. To me, the punishment felt disproportionate, and probably not great PR for Taiwan customs.
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You can take unlimited cash as long as you declare it.
In US dollars. In Canadian Dollars. In Euro. In something else.
Not in TWD. Not in CNY. Not in HKD and not in MOP
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I’m agreeing with you. It sounds like he could have changed 400,000ntd into USD and declared it and kept it all. The question is:
Is (1) failing to know this or
(2) knowing this and ignoring it or
(3) knowing this and failing to do it
grounds for a $400,000ntd penalty?
There are clearly tax implications on this also. We’re really careful to never have more than the equivalent of 10,000 in cash/accounts in Taiwan because it triggers higher filing requirements. Getting paid in one lump sum means he probably needs to disclose the amount on taxes and also file paperwork with the US Treasury department. He definitely needs to handle his money better.
If I had to guess, it’s to prevent the Chinese from trying to destroy the TWD.
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Exactly. That or get permission from the central bank to carry more than 100,000NTD (which is unlikely)
They simply specify that anything over $100,000 NTD would be seized… If he tried to bring out 1 million NTD then it would be 900,000 NTD seized… If it were 100,001 then technically $1 would be seized (however, I doubt they’d bother over 1 NTD but you never know Taiwanese bureaucracy. )
How did you get into Taiwan? Did you go to the same international airport as me? There are signs posted everywhere…
I chewed gum on the MRT for about ten years before anyone told me it was forbidden (and there are signs for that that just never registered). I hear what you’re saying. I understand that civilization needs rules, etc., etc. It just is funny to me that the government was so strict about this when it’s so chill about so many other things.
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Taiwan wasn’t listed as a “Major chewing gum country” and isn’t working hard to correct that. Also this law is the norm among ALL OECD countries and yes Taiwan does its best to follow them when it comes to finance. (Albeit with Taiwanese characteristics of classifying every foreigner as a foreign tax resident despite having no domicile in their home country)
Also regardless of all this… Let’s pretend Taiwan let him leave… then what? It will only be seized by the country he arrives at anyway…
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Could be worse, in America the cops can steal your cash even if you’re not breaking any laws
Yes, but from a major Taiwan university? I can believe someone would try to hide money from tutoring or freelancing, but how could a university with many foreign professors over the years get away with paying a salary in a lump sum, especially with the excuse that it’s hard to open a bank account when you’re foreigner, which it isn’t.
Also, this is a Taiwan News article, and I don’t have a high opinion of their reporting. Several details may be wrong. They get a lot of their news translated from local sources, but I can’t find anything about it except for Taiwan News. Maybe he contacted them directly. They use the phrase “he told Taiwan News”.
I may be reading this wrong, but it seems like he was planning to be in Taiwan next month for a performance with the National Symphony Orchestra:
Posted 9/12/2022
" 奇美音樂節 首度移師高雄衛武營
10/21舉辦的「民族火光──NTSO浪漫狂想」，則首度移師高雄衛武營音樂廳。該場由國立台灣交響樂團、大提琴家潘怡慈，以及指揮家多利安．威爾森共同合作，將使用世上最古老的大提琴「查理九世」等９把奇美名琴，期望以優美樂章傳遞德弗札克浪漫主義的鄉愁與情愁，邀請所有參與民眾一同沉浸在神祕熱情的西班牙曲風中。"
多利安．威爾森 = Dorian Wilson
And it looks like he has come and gone from Taiwan before, assuming he hasn’t left until now:
Dated 2016
Dated 2018
Dated 2021
“威爾森曾多次受邀與國臺交合作，皆受到樂迷喜愛。”
He’s been invited many times. I’m not sure if that means he was invited TO Taiwan for a performance or he was in Taiwan and invited to perform. And fans love him.
I can’t believe someone with that much international travel experience wouldn’t know you have to declare more than $10,000 in any currency in most countries. I didn’t know about not taking out more than $100,000NT, but I didn’t need to know. $500,000 NT isn’t really worth smuggling. Maybe he was just hoping for a better exchange rate in Europe.
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I mean, we are talking about money here. Gov would not say no to money.
Americans can open bank accounts in Taiwan so I’m not sure what he meant
The whole thing sounds fishy. Paid in cash. Lump sum. Not using a bank (due to FATCA?)
Perhaps he didn’t want to declare going out or he’d have to declare going into the U.S., and that might trigger tax questions
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Yeah, I think he knows what he’s doing.
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It is harder now. Many banks asking for your social security card…as if I ever thought of carrying that around Taiwan.
You can thank your lovely uncle Sam for that one. That FATCA law is really messed up
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Yes this gets odder and odder. Good research here.
What is that guy doing. Every one knows that one gets a better rate for NTD locally than in other countries, where they may or may not even take it!
Guy
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Reminds me of how much I lost changing Ntd in the UK. The rate was such shit I still feel angry about it
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I see a lot of holes in his story.
“professor’s annual salary of NT$500,000 (US$15,600)”
That seems low for a professor, like English teachers earn more.
“hard for foreigners, especially for American citizens given tax laws, to have a bank account in Taiwan,”
Is it? I mean, it’s a faff, but not hard,
“he was paid his entire salary at the end of the school year, in June.”
I have never heard of that happening before.
" “did not see any sign regarding such a policy,” "
If I remember right, those signs are huge, and like every country has similar policies about bringing cash out.
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Yeah, but mostly one has to pay a percentage of the money as a fine and one will have to prove that the money has been acquired legally and taxed. But they won’t just confiscate all of the money in excess of the allowed amount with no way of getting it back…
I am not saying that this guy did everything right and nothing shady is going on - but the penalty for him sounds rather excessive compared to what he did…
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Live and learn. Now you know. Think of how much smarter you are getting! 
Guy
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