Hello All, I am thinking of starting a rep office later this year. However, I am thinking of not paying any wages to myself at all.
If I do not pay any wages to myself at all, do I still need to pay taxes?
How do you support your living in Taiwan?
People should understand that unlike a court, tax offices go by the evidence rule “substance over formality”. Which means: if you work for a rep office, they are paying you - regardless of what the books of the rep office say.
You could say they are paying you a small wage overseas and pay tax on that’figure, will be very little tax to pay and they will be okay with that…you are filing taxes.
But tax offices are pretty lax in taiwan sometimes , you are supposed to file tax reports every year but I know people who filed recently and didn’t file taxes for previous years and no repercussions.
[quote=“headhonchoII”]You could say they are paying you a small wage overseas and pay tax on that’figure, will be very little tax to pay and they will be okay with that…you are filing taxes.
But tax offices are pretty lax in taiwan sometimes , you are supposed to file tax reports every year but I know people who filed recently and didn’t file taxes for previous years and no repercussions.[/quote]
how small can that wage be?
Will the rep office sponsor your ARC in Taiwan? If yes then the minimum is 47-48,000NT/mo.
Is the rep office profitable as a business in Taiwan? If yes then you will probably want wages paid to reduce tax liability of the business.
Are you going to hire an accountant? If yes then he can answer these questions.
[quote=“Abacus”]Will the rep office sponsor your ARC in Taiwan? If yes then the minimum is 47-48,000NT/mo.
[/quote]
Hey abacus, is it possible for you to show me the links where the govt says you need 47-48000NT for rep office to sponsor ARC?
cos according to lee kohl in the rep office update thread, he specified that there are no official minimum figures…
[quote=“buddaoinfo”][quote=“Abacus”]Will the rep office sponsor your ARC in Taiwan? If yes then the minimum is 47-48,000NT/mo.
[/quote]
Hey abacus, is it possible for you to show me the links where the govt says you need 47-48000NT for rep office to sponsor ARC?
cos according to lee kohl in the rep office update thread, he specified that there are no official minimum figures…[/quote]
Your best bet is to talk to an accountant (you will need one at some point). I am under the impression that if you want to sponsor an ARC (for any type of work) then you need to pay the white collar minimum for a foreigner (47-48K/mo). Maybe a rep office is different though.
FWIW - the taxes will be really, really low on that amount. The effective tax rate would be like 3% since the first 272K is exempt from taxes. It’s not like you would have to pay a lot of money. NHI would be more expensive since you would be paying the employee and employer share since you are the same. But still a really a great value for what you get.
[quote=“buddaoinfo”][quote=“Abacus”]Will the rep office sponsor your ARC in Taiwan? If yes then the minimum is 47-48,000NT/mo.
[/quote]
Hey abacus, is it possible for you to show me the links where the govt says you need 47-48000NT for rep office to sponsor ARC?
cos according to lee kohl in the rep office update thread, he specified that there are no official minimum figures…[/quote]
If I may… Complete Guide to Opening a Rep Office 2011 Update
There is no minimum salary requirement for repo offices. Don’t waste money talking to accountants. There’s no need.
Non legal opinion: You can get away with not paying yourself and not filing taxes, but it will come back to bite you if you want to apply for a work permit or extend your rep office ARC in the future because these procedures require a form from the tax office declaring you filed taxes the previous year. If you leave Taiwan for more than half a calendar year this gets reset, in theory, but I’d say it’s still a gamble.