This makes it look like I’d be paying 40% and then on top of that another 20% above 6.7M NTD??? That’s brutal!
You are only looking at one side and making assumptions, you need to look at both sides in the context of your situation. Hire a professional that will give you the best, legal scenario for your situation. Despite what others may tell you, Taiwan will most definitely be interested in your US income, this much I KNOW from experience.
Most countries will tax you on all your income while you are living and working in said country. The US is one of the only ones that also wants to tax you on foreign income you make while not even living or working in the US.
Taiwan will tax your total income, any income that is truly earned from a foreign source (passive income, investment income from overseas assets, rental income from overseas property, etc.) is separate from locally earned income (income earned while working in Taiwan, regardless of the source of that income). The first ~$212,000 (6.7 million ntd) of foreign income is not taxed in Taiwan, after that I’m not sure how it is taxed as it is not a situation I have ever had to deal with (unfortunately).
Its not 45% anymore, it’s been amended to 40% since a year or so back. But, yes, still a ridiculous. There are some deductions you an make for e.g. supporting your parents and if you got a spouse, but they wont really make a difference.
Perhaps you can move some of your income to a company, the corporate tax rate is “only” 20% and the tax authorities here are a bit anal about expenses you can put on the company as well but it is still lower than what your personal income tax rate would be.
Yes once you have an ARC you can sponsor her entry permit. It is unlikely but possible that your school will do that for you. However you can do it yourself with your ARC. The immigration officials in Taiwan are used to the process and in my own experience have been very very helpful and nice about it. However be aware that there are document requirements. This will include your marriage cert - translated and notarized. Best to do that part before you leave: ask in TECO in your country.
If you were married in China you have a trickier process where you have to get it notarized by the cross straights bodies, and that would involve travel to China. Also be aware that you may have to arrive first, get your arc and then apply for her permit, so she may need to follow a month or two after you arrive.
Take a look at this thread: Taiwan visa for a PRC spouse
Based on your ARC and marriage cert only yes. If she has qualifications she might be able to apply for her own work permit (but I have no knowledge or experience about that). Also be aware that unlike spouses of ROC citizens she will not be eligible to apply for a TARC and eventual ROC citizenship after spending x number of years in Taiwan (as far as I know, that is what the immigration officials have told me). If you get an APRC her entry permit is set to a longer duration (3 years).
Be aware that if you wife is travelling directly to China from Taiwan and does not have the Chinese pink entry book + permit stamp she will get a roasting from the Chinese immigration officials, and it is imaginable that they could escalate this to a freeze on her passport. Best to travel to China indirectly if she doesn’t have the documents, she could then apply for them while in China. She would need your ARC and marriage cert to do that, and it can only be done in the place where her household is registered. (She cannot board a flight from China to Taiwan without those permits.)
Also some - not many - check in staff in airlines are not familiar with ROC entry permits and may question it when travelling to Taiwan from third countries. Some check in staff in some airlines just issue the ticket without even asking for the entry permit, so experiences vary a lot there.
It will be most likely be a easier for her to settle in than for a non Chinese person. Most all Taiwanese are entirely non discriminatory towards PRC citizens. There are some windups, be ready for dalu dala dalu on the news, but overall the problems are really a lot less than you might imagine.
Best of luck and feel free to PM if you have more detailed questions
1 Like
Hey there, we left Taiwan in 2015 but my wife, PRC citizen and I lived here from 2011 to 2015 also had two kids here. Not much issues getting the documents and renewal, a bit long to get all the stuff translated and notarized as explained at the begining but we had one or two renewals of blue book and it was fine just with my new arc. The real pain is the pink book: as PRC and TW don’t really recognize their respective documents, to exit China to go to TW, a mainlander need a special permit, the pink book. As I remember it is a single exit/re-entry and it takes 15 days to apply in the local PSB, not sure provincial level or above… It means basically that everytime your wife will go back to China, she has to go for 15 days at least (to be able to redo the book) and spend some time on re-apply for an exit at her home town (no tourism in China for us for the 4 years we were here). This is only necessary for direct flights, through HK or a third-country no issue. This document is only looked in China, no other country / airlines care, TW doesn’t care either. My wife was visiting her family regularly but overdue her 3 months stay in TW stated on the pink book every time and it was never a problem, she never had any comments in China and was able to renew her pink book every time she was back. This was in Shenyang, maybe different elsewhere. We traveled a lot in Asia, no issue. Only returning to China through direct flights was complicated.
2 Likes
If you were married in the PRC, you may have some problems. Taiwan did not recognize the marriage license from PRC despite the fact that the US has recognized it on several occasions. The end result was that to get the ARC card we had to get married again in the US, 16 years after our first marriage. Every step of the ARC process has been a nightmare, so make sure you get originals of everything, even things for which true originals are unavailable (for example I needed to get new “original” birth certificates for my children so I could send them to the Taiwanese government).
They recognize PRC documents if sent it to Taiwan via the straights exchange foundation. Which means going to China first, sending the docs, and then going to Taiwan to pick them up (bit of a run around)
It was easier to just get married again.
1 Like
Thanks for this information about the marriage license. We were married in China and our marriage license is literally hand written with some pictures of us on it. Do you know if there is anything I need to do special to get married again in the US. Do I just go to the county courthouse and tell them we want to get married? Or should we tell them we want to get married again?
I just went to the county courthouse (or, in my case the town hall), filled out the paperwork, paid $50, and had the justice of the peace (also the town selectman, which is like a mayor in a bigger town) sign a new marriage license.
1 Like
Thanks this is very useful information. The pink book is the 台湾通行证？ It’s good to hear that overall should be welcomed. I certainly don’t want to live somewhere where my loved ones don’t feel comfortable!
Did you tell them that you were already married, but just needed a marriage license from the US? I’m just wondering if I need to ask for something different that what a newly married couple would get.
OK. This is useful information for sure. I think they call this a 台湾通行证or something like that.
Any idea how Taiwan views a US LLC with S-Corp election? That’s a pass-through entity, so all the profit from the business is taxed at a personal rate. If I converted to a C-Corp I’d be paying quite a bit more in taxes. Of course my W-2 income is only $60,000.
Yes the pink book is the 台湾通行证. Only needed to exit China to TW through direct flight. If you come from any other country, no need this.
I’ve heard this before, but I haven’t seen a source for it.
Yes, we provided many US documents which proved we were married. Taiwan didn’t care. They repeatedly demanded an original, non-PRC marriage license. They never got one (the original in the US must stay in town hall), but they eventually accepted a certified copy of the US license.