Taking on Taiwanese staff

I need to take on a Taiwanese staff member and like everything else want to do it by the book. Before I start asking the CLA, tax office etc. I’m sure other people here have been in the same boat and can give me some pointers on what needs to be done to employ staff legally (registration, tax, health insurance etc.)

If you have an accountant, they can usually set it all up for you.

Every time I have used CPAs in Taiwan for anything more complicated than adding two numbers together, they have completely fucked the whole thing up. I’ll go and see the CLA today and report back if and when I get it sorted :slight_smile:

Sorry to hear that…ours goes the whole nine yards; everything from getting the business licensed to sorting out the stuff you mentioned above regarding employees. :notworthy:

Not sure what the CLA will have to do with hiring staff since you are hiring local staff only. Things you will have to do:

  • Sign up at the Bureau of National Health Insurance for a company insurance account. You will need the company registration and chops. Depending on how you get your health insurance currently, the owner may need to insure under his own company if it is his primary means of income. In most cases the employee pays 30% of NHI which is deducted from salary and the business pays 70%.

  • Sign up with the Bureau of Labor Insurance for a company pension account. You will need the company registration and chops. If you are a foreigner, do not sign up for a pension for yourself. The labor insurance law specifically excludes foreigners from the act. The company must pay 6% of each employee’s pay to the pension fund. This is not deducted from the employee’s pay.

  • Consult the withholding desk of your local business and income tax office for the current withholding table on salary income. The minimum level of withholding is somewhere in the $40k/month range last I checked so if you only have entry level clerical/assistant staff then you may not need to do withholding at all. However, you will need to prepare and file a certificate of non-withholding at year-end to declare how much you paid in salary.

Very useful reply, thanks a bunch! I already had the company NHI account for my own insurance so that turned out easy enough, I sorted out the tax affairs while I was already at the tax office a few days back and the only part left for me to sort out now is the labour insurance.