Dont’ quote me on this though. Please verify at your end.
Except very few countries withhold tax on capital gains at source. So this tax is due when you file taxes. If you are not a tax resident in the country of your broker, then aside from withheld taxes (likely for dividends), you are not filing taxes there. Therefore, you are not as you say, “pre-taxed” outside of Taiwan. The only place most expats file taxes (aside from Americans) is in Taiwan.
Where have you read that this income needs to have been taxed elsewhere? And most importantly the , “provable it was taxed outside of Taiwan” part!!! Is this information from a Taiwan CPA? Or just assumptions?
I pay taxes in the US. This source was from a Banker. I asked the question in case I need to move large amount of money into Taiwan and don’t want to be double taxed.
This is NOT related to ONLY capital gains tax. This is large sum of money aka cash (savings and etc.) that already been taxed.
Americans get shafted by their government tax-wise having to pay taxes while no longer being a resident. Crazy.
You should be fine. But if it is a large amount as you say, I personally wouldn’t trust what a banker says. IMHO, a call with a Taiwanese CPA is likely a good investment, just to be sure. Marco has a decent CPA he deals with I think, if you are interested. @Marco ?
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Yeah. I keep getting screwed over by people who will continue to take home a paycheque whether or not they do a good job.
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Here’s the AMT article I was provided.
Something to bear in mind, depending on how large an amount you are talking about: if it’s over US$100,000 you will need to get approval for the transfer from the Taiwan Central Bank.
Didn’t you have a CPA that is separate from your lawyer? (I am pretty sure this is your lawyer’s card, yes?)
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Whoops. Fixed.
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It is still the same for foreign stocks (not bought in Taiwan Bank): Capital gains (selling those stocks) are tax free, for dividends from stocks you have to pay income tax?
So better go for accumulating rather than distributing ETFs, when planing to live here longterm?
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To my understanding both dividends and capital gains from foreign stocks fall under the same AMT / Income Basic Tax because they count as “overseas income”. So tax is only due once one exceeds 6.7 million NT$ per year in total income.
Hm, okay. I thought AMT will only be used as an alternative calculation and only if it is higher, than the basic income calculation.
ChatGPT states the following:
- No capital gains tax on listed securities
1.1. Legal basis: Securities Transaction Tax Act (證券交易稅條例)
English version (official legal database of the Ministry of Justice, ROC)
Securities Transaction Tax Act - Article Content - Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan)Most important point:
In Taiwan, no income tax is levied on capital gains from trading in listed stocks and other securities. Instead, a Securities Transaction Tax (STT) is levied on each transaction (currently generally 0.3% of the transaction volume for stocks).
Capital gains as such are (as of today) not included in income tax.
In practice, this means: Listed securities such as US stocks, Taiwanese stocks, ETFs, etc. are not subject to a separate capital gains tax rate. Instead, the STT is due upon sale (provided you trade on the Taiwanese stock exchange). For a purely foreign securities account (e.g., in Germany), the Taiwanese STT does not apply, and there is no additional Taiwanese income tax on the capital gain.
- Dividends as part of “worldwide income”
2.1. Legal basis: “Income Tax Act” (所得稅法)
English version (official legal database of the Ministry of Justice, ROC)
Income Tax Act - Article Content - Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan)Relevant articles:
Article 14 (“Class of Income”)
This defines, among other things, the following: It is regulated that dividends and profit participations are taxable income.
Articles 17ff. (Regulations for determining taxable income, joint taxation, etc.)
As a resident of Taiwan (more than 183 days of residence, ARC/APRC), you are subject to unlimited tax liability and must declare your worldwide income. Dividends from Taiwan and abroad are subject to income tax and are subject to a progressive tax rate (up to a maximum of 40%).
Not a tax professional, but I personally, I would neither trust ChatGPT in this case 
To my understanding, individual income tax in Taiwan is territorial, i.e. it only applies to Taiwan-sourced income:
Individual income tax (IIT) is levied on Taiwan-sourced income of both resident and non-resident individuals, unless exempt under the provisions of the Income Tax Act and other laws.
That’s also what Article 2 says:
For any individual having income from sources in the Republic of China, the individual income tax shall be levied in accordance with this Act on his income derived from sources in the Republic of China.
Article 8 then clarifies what “income from sources in the Republic of China” means:
- Dividends distributed by companies incorporated and registered in accordance with the Company Act of the Republic of China and by foreign companies authorized by the government of the Republic of China to operate within the territory of the Republic of China;
So according to my layman-interpretation, this only applies to companies registered in Taiwan. The overseas company issuing the stock will usually not be the one operating in Taiwan - that should always be a subsidiary. Also, when holding an ETF domiciled in Canada, Ireland etc. - dividend payments of that ETF defínitely should not count as “Taiwan-sourced”-income.
And Taiwan being Taiwan, we shouldn’t overzealously interpret the tax act in a way that makes us pay taxes that >99% of the locals won’t pay 
I think both of these statements are true.
I’m seeing people talk about this a few times here but I can’t find anything online where it says if you earn under 6.7 mill from abroad then you don’t need to pay tax. Only seems to say that it’s not subject to AMT, doesn’t say it’s exempt from Taiwan personal income tax.
Anyone get any sources that say otherwise?
I think no one here said that: It depends on the type of income.
Salary from abroad? Counts as Taiwan-sourced income if the work was performed in Taiwan.
“Investment income” (not that actual legal term) from abroad? Falls under the IBT/AMT.
And regarding IBT filing (screenshot from the official tax software):
Hi,
Pretty new to Taiwan, but I thought for IBT filling we still have to fill if above NT1M even though it’s not taxed until 7.5, or did I miss something? (Screenshot says no need to fill under 7.5??). If anyone knows the answer would be very helpful 
Yeah, I was also confused about this.
My theory is that as long as it’s under 7.5M, the tax department doesn’t really care because even if you don’t file in the range 1M-7.5M, they’d only charge a penalty on the taxes owed. But those would be zero anyway - so they just don’t want to bother…
When in doubt, of course, always check with the tax department - or just enter the data when filing.
FWIW to test the waters, last years tax return we included about NT$3M in realized gains from US stock sales, didn’t pay any additional local taxes on that overseas income, attached a realized gain/loss statement (which didn’t include an account balance)
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Yeah I guess I’ll double check with the tax department but I heard that some employees themselves don’t really know better 
@nivek Oh thanks for the info. So just a statement in English with the capital gains without any transaction history was enough?
And how did you calculate the exchange rate to NTD? Yearly average? I quickly talked to a CPA some time ago and I think he also mentioned something about a monthly (or 2 months) average for the exchange rate but don’t remember exactly.