I want to buy a thing that’s unfortunately only on Ruten & Yahoo shopping. I go to register on Ruten and it says give your Taiwan ID, ARC, or Unified ID - none of which I have, and the first two I can’t get.
So how do I get this mythical Unified ID, and is there a practical alternative for foreigners? Do they check? I have a local phone number they can verify with, just not sure about the ID requirement.
Unless something had changed, I don’t think it’s possible.
See:
You can get this from your local National Immigration Agency service center. Takes only a few minutes. Bring your passport.
So, what’s this Unified ID?
Immigration issues a piece of paper called ‘record of ID in the ROC’ which is in the same format as an ARC. It is issued to those who are visitors in Taiwan that don’t have an ARC but still need services like bank accounts. If you later get an ARC they use the same number.
Does this have any future relevancy, like making it easier to get an ARC?
Does it come with any obligations like filing taxes?
Do banks actually accept this replacement?
It’s an ARC number without an ARC. It’s on a piece of paper instead of a card.
When I got an ARC. It became my ARC number.
Yes, it becomes your ARC number upon receiving one. No it doesn’t make it easier.
Yes. If you are in Taiwan more than 180 days in a tax year you have to file taxes anyways.
Yes, along with other forms of ID.
90 days is the filing requirement… 
You become a Taiwan tax resident if you stay in Taiwan longer than 183 days, or you are a Taiwan national and have household registration（戶籍） in Taiwan and visit for at least one day. The address in your ARC is not household registration, it’s a registration process from the local administrative office (戶政事務所).
If you stay less than 90 days in Taiwan, in general you do not have to file taxes, and VAT or sales taxes are reimbursable.
If you worked in Taiwan and stayed over 90 days, you need to pay taxes on your Taiwan based salary even if your income came from overseas.
If you stayed in Taiwan between 90-183 days in a calendar year then you need to pay a fixed rate of 18% income tax.
Thank you for that. It’s been a long time since I was in that position.
Does the ID in and of itself come with the tax (or other such) obligations? I understand about the dates but that is a separate matter to only getting the ID document, unless you can’t get it without having been in the country 90+ days.
How often does it have to be renewed?
Don’t know, sorry, and of course everyone should be following the law…
but if I had to guess this might make it easier to track someone down who has been in the country over 90 days and not filed. Not saying they would, but it would tie your foreign ID to the Taiwan ID.
If you were to become an official resident later, they may ask why you haven’t filled in previous years you’ve stayed over 90 days as they’d be able to see that now. This actually happened to me (out of ignorance), and I ended up filing for that year and paid the tax/penalties.