I’ve read on a few posts here that, when switching to a visa after staying in Taiwan on 90-day visa exemptions, you’ll be asked to pay back taxes for years you stayed in Taiwan above 183 days.
Does anyone know if this policy is still in effect? Does it happen when obtaining any visa, or only some? I have some friends who did the visa run thing for years and they weren’t asked about previous tax year filings once they got a visa. Is it up to the discretion of whoever oversees your application?
I switched froM USA exempt 90 days to a general visa, no tax questions or information asked of me
How long had you been in Taiwan on 90 day visa exemptions when you switched to a visa?
I think i had about 6 weeks left , when given a new visa they sald its 180 days from my last entrance to tw.
So waiting wouldnt change my new visas expiration
Had you been in Taiwan 183 days that year or any years beforehand? I think that’s when the back taxes situation comes into play.
I have been in tw about 540 days minus traveling for visa runs
That’s good to hear. What kind of visa did you switch over to?
General tourist i think thats what its called
This only happens when you go Visa exempt -> Resident Visa -> ARC
What’s the relevance of the middle step? I thought it could also happen going from multiple/long-term visa exemptions directly to ARC?
Bingo. That generates the allowance for the ARC
you need to get a visa between visa exempt and ARC.
Not necessarily? The gold card would be one exception to that (I’m not sure if there are others, maybe that’s the only one).
I read the conversation again, and think I misunderstood the “it” in your post.
By “it” I meant something like “the OP’s question”, sorry.
I think I also misunderstood the meaning of “resident visa” above - I knew you needed some kind of intermediate visa going from an exemption to a regular work ARC, but I didn’t know that’s what it’s called. (“resident visa” made me think of marriage or family or something like that)
I don’t know the answer, but I’ve also read a few threads on here about people being required to file back taxes when getting an ARC, or at least being asked about them.
I’m not sure exactly when that’s an issue - I seem to remember some posts saying it was a requirement to get the ARC (i.e., the ARC wouldn’t have been issued without the tax receipts), and others suggesting it only came up at the tax office later when filing a tax return, where the tax office might try to estimate the person’s income in the absence of proof otherwise and ask them to pay tax on that.
I think it depends on which officer get at the counter.