Should I pay more taxes for the last 5 years to get an APRC?

Legal Taxes
1

I was very excited to apply for an APRC because I’ve been here over 5 years but then I saw that the minimum income necessary is like 35k/month.

I’ve been listed as making the minimum income, like 25?k/month.

My job that hired me is a buxiban, (I wanted to be legal and worry free) so more legal than kindy but my boss kept telling me that there were barely enough students and that we needed to go this route. He didn’t even ask me, he just said this is how we’ll do it.

Every year I kept saying that the taxes here are very reasonable and I wanted to pay a little more as a matter of principle, and to be positive and spread the wealth, but he kept saying I didn’t need to and that times are hard and stuff.

Probably 90% of foreigners I’ve known here are working illegally so I always thought, uhhhh, ok whatever.

Now I’m stung. I feel fuckin horrible like things are totally screwed up now and I just wasted the last five years of time for just a little bit of money.

Can I go to the tax office and pay more? And then use the new papers as proof of minimum income? Or will that make problems?

Can I say that I bought and then upsold things for a profit on the side to make an income and then pay taxes for that? Would that get me in trouble? Would they ask a lot of questions?

Is there any chance I’d be making trouble or would it be a piece of cake?

I’m already married to a non taiwanese girl, and I can’t have 2 wives, though there are dozens of yummy chicks here, damn it.

I hate the feeling that if I quit or get fired or laid off or something that I’ll have an extremely short time to get another job, (I don’t even know how long) or do a visa run or some damn fucking thing. And it’s harder than granite to change jobs legally and safely, so many schools go on vendetta kicks.

I want to be able to just chill and relax.

Somebody please, please help me. I feel really horrible.

2

I’m in Taoyuan County, don’t know if that matters.

Also, could my boss say, “Oh I made a mistake, he actually made more.” And fix the problem, or would that just get him and or us in trouble?

And if I did say that I made more than was claimed, would that news get back to my boss?

3

I hope somebody comes thru with some good answers, I can certainly see you are caught between a rock and a hard place and you dont even have the option of a TW wife (the ace card). TAx evasion is a serious issue indeed and could carry penalties. I think getting your bushiban in trouble will not be helpful. Perhaps you can make a friend at the local tax office and explain your predicament and see if they have any solutions. Sometimes they are pretty creative. They can independently assess that you make more income then you “actually” do on their own and you can pay the extra taxes and there is no admitance of “guilt” needed. So I would see about going down to the tax office and seeing if you can speak to a supervisor for some “guidance” on this matter. They are happy to take more of your money in taxes normally , and should be interested in giving you some quarter in return. They can say that you have had private students (although illegal) and therefore have undeclared income. And since they have assessed this without any proof, theres no legal charge against you. And they could just put your income in the last five years up to satisfy your PARC requirements. They could do it if you can get them to do it. And since the arms of the govt are not linked, you could get by with some of the aspects not being totally legit. Taiwan should remember that it itself is not totally legit in the eyes of the world too I think, and stop having such mundane and petty laws.

Course wait up a bit and see if other posters have some real world personal experience here.

4

I don’t know whether you could retrospectively pay tax and get the corresponding certificates. But anyway, I don’t think you have to prove earnings for the full five years do you? From my memory of the various threads on the topic, you need to prove either three years or one year, maybe depending on where you are. So if you work another year but at a decent monthly rate, that could possibly be enough.

5

Joesax is correct. You need the offical government annual income certificates for the past three years only. If you are going to apply before the end of 2009, you will need income certificates for 2006, 2007, 2008. Also, your monthly salary or earnings are required to be be at least 2X the Taiwan Basic Monthly Wage which is around $18,000 NTD per month. Therefore, your official annual income certificates would need to show at least $432,000 NTD per year for 2006, 2007, and 2008. If not, you could always go for the $5 million NTD show of assets. If you own land or a condo in Taiwan that has an appraised value of at least $5 million NTD, or if you have a bank account with at least $5 million NTD, then you don’t need to show your official annual income statements. One final thing. Your wife’s income counts toward your total income and/or assets. You say you’re married. Even though you’re not married to a Taiwanese should make no difference. Your spouse’s income should be counted toward your total value. So, if your wife’s income for 2006, 2007, and 2008 is added to yours for the same years that would probably put you over the $432,000 NTD annual requirement and you could apply for the APRC.

The best thing to do is to get your official annual income certificates, see how far off you are from 2X the Basic Wage plus your wife’s income and then go to immigration and ask them.

I absolutely would NOT try to pay back taxes or mention to the immigration department that there is any possible discrepancy between what you declared, paid taxes on, and what you actually made. Bad bad bad, idea! :no-no:

6

Looks like the surfer is on the right wave length here.

7

Joesax is correct. You need the offical government annual income certificates for the past three years only. If you are going to apply before the end of 2009, you will need income certificates for 2006, 2007, 2008. Also, your monthly salary or earnings are required to be be at least 2X the Taiwan Basic Monthly Wage which is around $18,000 NTD per month. Therefore, your official annual income certificates would need to show at least $432,000 NTD per year for 2006, 2007, and 2008. If not, you could always go for the $5 million NTD show of assets. If you own land or a condo in Taiwan that has an appraised value of at least $5 million NTD, or if you have a bank account with at least $5 million NTD, then you don’t need to show your official annual income statements. One final thing. Your wife’s income counts toward your total income and/or assets. You say you’re married. Even though you’re not married to a Taiwanese should make no difference. Your spouse’s income should be counted toward your total value. So, if your wife’s income for 2006, 2007, and 2008 is added to yours for the same years that would probably put you over the $432,000 NTD annual requirement and you could apply for the APRC.

The best thing to do is to get your official annual income certificates, see how far off you are from 2X the Basic Wage plus your wife’s income and then go to immigration and ask them.

I absolutely would NOT try to pay back taxes or mention to the immigration department that there is any possible discrepancy between what you declared, paid taxes on, and what you actually made. Bad bad bad, idea! :no-no:[/quote]

What he said.

Tax problems will get you not only denied an APRC, but most probably expelled, too.

Get someone -friends, relatives- to lend you the 5 million and put them in a bank. Use that as your “base”. I think it only needs to remain there 3 months.

Now, what I wonder is how your boss got away with it, as in order to have an ARC, the foreigner has to make twice as much as the Taiwanese -to justify the hiring of a foreigner.

8

Oh no!
My wife doesn’t have the earnings, she just recently got here and before her income was super low and not on the books. And the marriage paperwork isn’t finished either.
And Icon wrote:[quote]Now, what I wonder is how your boss got away with it, as in order to have an ARC, the foreigner has to make twice as much as the Taiwanese -to justify the hiring of a foreigner.[/quote]

God, this is getting worse! I never heard that a foreigner needed to make double min wage! I did work one job that stressed the hell out of me because I found out that it was not legal, so that’s why I went into buxiban in the first place! I kept trying to get my boss to raise my income to be 100% legit, but fuck!!! And Taiwans taxes are reasonable.
I can’t believe I just wasted the last 5 years of my time.
I don’t know how he got away with it either.
I was going to go to the aprc/parc office to ask about requirements, but now I might not.

Damn! 5,000,000 NT is way more than I could possibly raise in any way.

Damn, I feel sick. I’m not in my 20s anymore either. Now I’m probably gonna have to switch jobs, and get a fully legal one, which is always a very pleasant experience here in Taiwan, with the red tape, procedures, irate former bosses, opaque newer bosses.

Because if my income just suddenly jumps from like 25? or something to 40 that might raise questions. Especially since the recession is now starting to really bite in here.

There’s so much mind numbing complexity and bullshit related to my situation. I really tried hard to do everything right. Owww!!! Fuck!!!

Thanks for the input everyone I really appreciate it. Damn, I’ve felt hungover and sick since I started looking into all this.

9

Guys, that is AFAIK, maybe you could ask broadly -not saying any specifics about your case- at teh local Immigration Office -or if you feel more confortable, if you live let’s say Taipei City, then go to Taipei County to ask- about teh requisites, alternatives, etc… Make an appointment with the person in charge, and while not disclosing anything “revealing”, you could just tell him to clarify certain points so you do not waste his/her time and yours with delayed/wrong paperwork…

Now, one at a time: you have an ARC, right? You have had teh same ARC for 5 years, right? Then it should have some resemblance of legality as they do not give those outside a parke, nonmarked van. Stick to this story.

I know of the requisite from a friend’s case. It helped him raise his salary, by the way. Caveat emptor: that was a couple of years ago, things here change quickly, do not make rash decisions based on Icon’s heresay.

I think now you can include properties abroad as “collateral”. Maybe your parents’ house under your name for a few months?

When there is a will, there is a way. We furriners shall prevail!

10

I started working at a new school 2 years ago…They didn’t take my taxes off every month, said I only have to pay it once a year…when I went to pay it, it was soo little. I found out they said I only make NT25 000. I flipped, and asked them to put it up to NT35 000. And after a year of paying that, I got my APRC>

It doesn’t have anything to do with taxes. The important thing is how much you earned. So going in and paying extra taxes could get you in some serrrrrrrrious trouble…and your boss.

I am prettttttttttty sure they only need the LAST year to be double minimum wage. They want that final white piece of paper that shows your yearly income. They devide that by 12 and hopefully it comes down to more than NT34 000. So ask your school to push it up to NT35 000 and apply in a years time. I’m pretty sure. They want the last 3 years blue tax certificate…and only the last years income has to be double minimum wage per month. .

11

[quote=“LV”]I can’t believe I just wasted the last 5 years of my time.[/quote]You didn’t waste the last 5 years of your time. Remember, it’s 5 years in a row to qualify to apply for the APRC, but it’s only the past 3 years that they look at for your earnings. So, the worst case scenario would be that you need to wait 3 more years, ensuring that your annual reported income for 2009, 2010, 2011, are above the required minimum of 2X the average wage. You just need to ensure that your employer is honestly reporting your actual wages. Then you can apply in early 2012! :slight_smile: [quote=“LV”]5,000,000 NT is way more than I could possibly raise in any way.[/quote]There is another way to get the $5 million. You can borrow it from a “loan agency”. I’ve helped process the paperwork for the APRC for four friends, and with two packages we needed to do the show $5 million in a bank account routine. I contacted a “loan agency” and we arranged for $5 million to be transferred into a bank account. The fee for doing this was $10,000 per day and you want to make sure that you pay this, or else… We deposited the amount into the account, got the certified bank certificate showing balance and processed the APRC paperwork without any problems. The second time I did it, they wanted a copy of the bank book to see how long the money had been in there and they weren’t pleased that it had only been in there for one day. They tried to argue that the money needed to be in the account for at least 3 months, but when I demanded that they show me the relevant law stipilatating this, they couldn’t. It’s not the law. We also successfully argued that the money was transferred from the US in order to make the qualifications for the APRC and afterward it would be transferred right back to the US. Afterall, nobody keeps $5 million in a bank account. They allowed it. The last time I processed an APRC was July 2008. At any rate, it seems that they are really trying to tighten things up and make it more and more difficult for foreigners to become permanent residents.

Good luck.

12

[quote=“Battery9”]I started working at a new school 2 years ago…They didn’t take my taxes off every month, said I only have to pay it once a year…when I went to pay it, it was soo little. I found out they said I only make NT25 000. I flipped, and asked them to put it up to NT35 000. And after a year of paying that, I got my APRC>

It doesn’t have anything to do with taxes. The important thing is how much you earned. So going in and paying extra taxes could get you in some serrrrrrrrious trouble…and your boss.

I am prettttttttttty sure they only need the LAST year to be double minimum wage. They want that final white piece of paper that shows your yearly income. They devide that by 12 and hopefully it comes down to more than NT34 000. So ask your school to push it up to NT35 000 and apply in a years time. I’m pretty sure. They want the last 3 years blue tax certificate…and only the last years income has to be double minimum wage per month. .[/quote]

So how much do you really earn then? You flipped cause you want to cheat on your taxable income but still want an APRC? :roflmao:

Are you telling me that foreign English teachers are only making 25K a month before taxes?

13

[quote=“Northcoast Surfer”][quote=“LV”]I can’t believe I just wasted the last 5 years of my time.[/quote]You didn’t waste the last 5 years of your time. Remember, it’s 5 years in a row to qualify to apply for the APRC, but it’s only the past 3 years that they look at for your earnings. At any rate, it seems that they are really trying to tighten things up and make it more and more difficult for foreigners to become permanent residents.

Good luck.[/quote]

They are not making it difficult. It’s only difficult for those engaging in tax avoidance schemes. If the OP had been paying taxes on their actuall income then none of this would have happened.

14

satellite tv wrote:[quote]They are not making it difficult. It’s only difficult for those engaging in tax avoidance schemes. If the OP had been paying taxes on their actuall income then none of this would have happened.[/quote]

I did not want to engage in any tax avoidance scheme.

I wrote that taxes here in Taiwan are reasonable.

I wrote that I kept trying to be 100% fully legit, but my boss kept telling me that I didn’t need to.

We have always been low on students, and at that time that I got my job, I was sweating bullets trying to get one, as were a few of my friends. It’s not the 80s anymore where any whitey can get a cushy job.

Like I said, 95% of the workers I’ve known here have been WAY more illegal than me, riding unregistered scooters, having no scooter license, paying 0% in taxes, having no diploma, teaching kindergarten, not being a native english speaker, so on and so on.

I was just stunned when I read that I, one of the most legit people I know, did things wrong.

I like Taiwan, I’m happy to pay more in taxes to enjoy the health care here.

I was just really hurt by the turn of events. I’m really trying to be good. I just hope that doesn’t count against me or make me look like a pussy.

15

I really appreciate all the positive feedback.

May the wind be at your back, the ______ be in your cup, the ______ in your bowl and the merriment of ______ forever be the sparkle in your eyes.

Thanks.

Sorry about that poetic crap.

16

Northcoast surfer wrote:

Wow. Shit!

Even as a testosterone fueled, and at the time I was insane, 19 year old I wouldn’t want to get myself wrapped up in something so wild. But the accumulation of experience is much appreciated.

17

Does anyone know if it would be suspicious if my reported income suddenly jumps up for July or August while working at the same job?

I really want to set things straight and be 100% legit.

18

It could if its a huge jump.

19

[quote=“LV”]Does anyone know if it would be suspicious if my reported income suddenly jumps up for July or August while working at the same job?[/quote] No. Firstly, summer English classes usually cause every teacher’s income to double during July and August due to the increase in teaching load. Secondly, it won’t be suspicious because the NIA officials don’t look at your income on a monthly basis. They look at the official blue colored annual income statements that you get from the tax authority. It only has your total annual income and doesn’t break it down by month.

Here is what the official government issued annual income and tax statement looks like.

What you need to do now is make sure that your employer reports your income honestly. If you can’t get him to do it honestly and he still has to cheat, then at least force him to report that your monthly income averages $40,000 NTD per month. That will put you at $480,000 NTD per year and that’s over 2X the Basic Wage of Taiwan. If he reports that you make $30,000 NTD per month or less, you won’t clear the 2X the Basic Wage threshhold. You need this to happen for the 3 years prior to applying for the APRC. I recently checked with the immigration department and she assured me that they will check the past 3 years and not just the last year before you apply.

20

[quote=“Satellite TV”]

They are not making it difficult. It’s only difficult for those engaging in tax avoidance schemes. If the OP had been paying taxes on their actuall income then none of this would have happened.[/quote]
Oh, that’s so sanctimonious. They make it ridiculously difficult at every turn for gainfully employed “foreigners” to acquire residence status in their “country”. The bureaucracy thrives on this. Keeps the useless little booth fuckers in their worthless jobs