So what are the possible deductions? Just filed. Ouch. But better than last year. I think we just went over the threshold with a couple of deductions, when we were just under last year.
Anyone feel free to add to this list. And to also add more details.
A. Rent
B. Donations (don’t know what the amount is)
C. Insurance (don’t know what the minimum amount is)
D. Parents (my experience is that a notarized letter is needed from your parents, others have commented that proof of amounts wired, etc. is also needed)
E. Dependents
I don’t understand this question. Excuse my financial illiteracy/stupidity. We just propose every possible deduction to the tax people (my wife goes to the same lady every year), and she tells us what we can use and what we can’t. We both feel we should be a little smarter about this process!
Just filled mine out via the software (need to get my bank book at lunch, so I can’t send it yet). Standardized deductions are 90,000 for individual and 180,000 for a couple.
Tried to play around with the itemized deductions and it seems I would be able to deduct 120,000 if I listed my rent paid. But, since I’ve never discussed this with my landlord and therefore do not have his ID number nor the gov’t number for the abode I rent, I’m just doing the standardized deductions. Still getting around 20K back, so I’ll take it.
Thanks. We get this from our church. They are an official non-profit organization so they can give me a receipt. I’m in the middle of finding out the threshold (the minimum amount you must donate before it can be used as a deduction). I’ll update the list after finding this out.
There’s a similar situation with insurance, and again I’ll update.
C. Insurance (don’t know what the minimum amount is)
D. Parents (my experience is that a notarized letter is needed from your parents, others have commented that proof of amounts wired, etc. is also needed)
Well, there are two ways to do it. One is to take the standard deduction as per the amount @Yang_Gui_Zi stated. This is what I usually do, as I cannot claim rent, for example. I think they take only insurance into consideration.
The other way is to present as many items can be deducted and have those add up. Parents, rent, insurance, etc.
So my question is how do these methods compare, I am usually told it would be better to have at least parents in order not to pay such a high amount in taxes.
When I managed a rep office over there, I had to pay 100% of my NHI premiums myself. That almost immediately made it so my calculated deductions were a better option than the standard deduction. With a wife and a kid the medical bills and insurance (up to 24k each) were all deductible and it quickly added up to a big chunk of change, but if I hadn’t been paying my own NHI premiums the standard deduction would probably have been the right choice. It’s not easy to hit the threshold otherwise.
I never claimed rent because my landlord wasn’t declaring the income. It worked out that I was getting stiffed out of something like 2k a month, but since my rent was more than 2k below market rate I didn’t mind.
Whats a standard deduction mean? Everyone gets to have 1 standard deduction as a single filer? So you subtract 90,000 off your annual salary for 2017 and get taxed off that?
I just follow the directions on the software as I do every year. It deducts the 90,000 for you when you click the standard deduction option and not the itemized deductions. You can see all the info in the upper right corner, including your calculated amount due/refunded.
For those of you asking specifics about exemptions and deductions: just stop by your tax office (if in Taipei City, the one you want is the huge but friendly National Taxation Bureau on Zhonghua Road at Zhongxiao West Road, steps from Beimen MRT Station and walking distance from Ximen MRT Station and Taipei Main Station). They’ve got the forms, and the guidelines, and terrific staff. They can answer anything!
The applicable deductions for a resident of the R.O.C. in filing his/her income tax returns of 2017
Residents of the R.O.C. are entitled to have the following exemptions and deductions.
(1) Exemption
A. Lineal ascendants
B. Children
C. Brothers and sisters
D. Other relatives or members of the family
(2) Deductions: A taxpayer may select either the “Standard Deduction” or “Itemized Deductions” and may, in addition thereto, declare special deductions:
That’s great info. But for the itemized deductions:
I think you need to have a minimum amount before they can be itemized (used as deductions or whatever the proper lingo is). For example, I bought some extra insurance in 2017 and so could itemize insurance. It’s my understanding that I couldn’t do this in 2016. I believe donations work the same way. Someone please let me know if my information is wrong.
B. Itemized Deductions: Original receipts for (a) to (f) deductions below must be attached.
(a) Donation: Donation made to officially-registered educational, cultural, or public welfare and charitable organizations or agencies is deductible. The deduction should not be more than 20% of the gross consolidated income. However, donation made to national defense, for troop morale, to the government, or for the maintenance and repair of antiquities or historic constructions under Article 101 of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act is fully deductible. The taxpayer should provide evidence of official registration.
(b) Insurance Premiums: Premiums paid for life insurance, labor insurance, national annuity insurance, employment insurance and insurance for military personnel, public functionaries and teachers, of the taxpayer, his/her spouse, and their lineal dependents filing jointly are deductible. However, the deductions, excluding those for national health insurance, shall not exceed NT$24,000 for each person per year; premiums paid for national health insurance are fully deductible.
c,d,e,f are following.
Thanks for that. So there is no minimum. I was under the impression that there’s a minimum before you can claim a deduction. The maximum of 20% for donations I have heard of.
Edit: I think I know where the misunderstanding is. My wife is going to the tax office (not me). Add to this my complete ignorance of this subject, and lots of miscommunication is inevitable. I think last year (2016 tax year), all of our itemized deductions did not surpass the 180,000 standard deduction and so we did not have enough (the “minimum” I keep talking of). This tax year we did.
For those that don’t know, at the main Taipei office near main station they basically do everything for you including filling out the return. No need to mess around with the software at home. Most years I’m in and out with my tax certificate in less than an hour. Show up when they open and it’s faster, no waiting. You only need to bring your ARC.