Rep Office for Digital Nomad - Questions!

Hi Everyone,

I’ve seen a few mentions of both Representative Offices and digital nomads on the forums, but I figured I’d try for a direct answer here.

I’m a copywriter/marketing consultant looking to try out the digital nomad lifestyle, and I’m thinking of Taiwan to set up base in SE Asia. (I won’t get into my pros/cons list here, but you’re welcome to try to talk me out of it).

I understand that I can do visa runs basically indefinitely, but for certain things it’s just going to be better to have an ARC. However both my wife and I are planning on working freelance remotely, and have no desire to get a local job (teaching english or otherwise). So, the whole “set up a rep office” thing piqued my interest.

As I understand it reading through some of the older threads, the process is fairly straightforward and inexpensive. My plan would be to set up a USA-based S-corp (or possibly LLC) and then set up a rep office in Taiwan for that.

So my questions are:

  • Has anyone here successfully set up a Rep Office as a “digital nomad” (full time freelancer) and gotten an ARC with it? If so:
  • What type of foreign entity did you set up to represent and where?
  • What local activity do you do to “represent” your company and keep your status?’
  • Do you need a corporation, or is an LLC “enough” of a legal entity to form a rep office?
  • Is there a better path to residency as a digital nomad that I missed?

Thanks!

If I remember correctly, if you are an employee of the rep office you can get a work permit, but the permit is only good for things like signing contracts and marketing; you can’t actually generate revenue under a rep office. I think you need a branch office for that. Also there is the NT$3M revenue requirement in the first year.
Can someone confirm those?

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If it’s NT$3M he will qualify for the gold card.

There are some rules if I remember 3M revenue is required to maintain 1 extra ARC for the next year. Also, although seemed simple to open a REP OFFICE in Taiwan, the headaches start when you need to open a corporate bank account, most banks want you to deposit 2M NTD upfront. It seems easy, but when you start to navigate through all the processes, you will discover the Taiwanese confusion to do simple things and how complicated things can get if you don’t have the right connection.

Hong Kong limited company

Get quotations from local suppliers, sell services to local companies

Don’t know, but should be fine :man_shrugging:

Google for gold card

This is only relevant if you form a local limited company and get your ARC through that. Not relevant for rep office.

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Only if it’s salary, not self-employment

In the case where you form a local limited company, you get 2 years to reach the 3M sales threshold, don’t you? So, even if you don’t make it to 3M (or whatever the actual minimum threshold is), the company can still sponsor an ARC (is more than 1 possible?)

So, at Year 3, if you cannot make the minimum threshold, do you switch gears and get a job? You still have 3 years to go to get to the PARC minimum number of years

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Yes, a US LLC. The local activity was buying “widgets” from a friend with a local company. A couple of invoices was enough to renew the ARC twice, and by that time APRC qualifications were met.

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Thanks for the responses everyone!

I am aware of the differences between a rep office, a branch office, and a Taiwan limited company, as well as the capital requirements for the last two. I don’t believe they make sense for my situation, because I’m not looking to set up a physical business in Taiwan or to do business with Taiwanese companies or individuals (beyond what’s required to maintain a rep office) at this point.

I would be working for my USA company, which would be doing business with other USA companies and clients. From what I understand this is a grey area, but it’s not going to get me deported. Therefore I wouldn’t have any need for a local business bank account or really much of anything beyond space to register as my rep office.

Basically I’m just looking to sanity-check this plan and see if there are any tips&tricks or gotchas to be aware of.

I did look at the Gold Card also but I don’t meet the salary requirements at this time, nor have I won any Nobel Prizes (yet!)

You’ll need to file a tax return in Taiwan. Be sure to understand the implications of that for your situation.

Would be news to me, but possibly the rules are more lax now.

IIRC the ARC applicant needs to own at least a 1/3 of the business. So a maximum of 3 ARCs. Could be different now, though, those were Ma Ying Jiu era rules.

You get a job, get married or go home.

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In addition to the tax issue that @squall1 mentioned, you will also need/have to enroll for the national health insurance. Since you employ yourself, you have to pay both the employer and the employee part of the monthly fee, which can be substantial, depending on your salary. So before you decide on a salary to pay yourself, look into taxes and NHI.