maybe someone can answer this question or knows an english speaking tax consultant I can hire for a few hours to answer them.
Since this year I have a work based ARC in Taiwan because I work here as a language teacher. I am also a Youtuber (in my free time) and make good money with it. It is definitely an amount that I have to tax somewhere (High 5 figures in USD).
I get paid from my network to my european paypal account and then I withdraw the money to my bank account in the EU. Then I withdraw the money here in Taiwan from the ATM with my Visa Card and deposit it on my Taiwan bank account (lower fees this way). I am from a country that does not tax based on citizenship but based on where you live and where the work is done. Both is in Taiwan. When I file taxes next year in Taiwan, how I am supposed to do that ? I heard that you usually bring your bank statement / record, which in my case would not work.
Should I print my Adsense Page or the Payment / Balance Sheet of my Network ?
If an english speaking taiwan tax accountant wants to help me with my case and consult me, you can also write me here so we can discuss the details:
How often do you transfer funds? Are the amounts over 500k NTD each time? Since Youtube does not send payments to your Taiwan bank account, you’d probably be better off not reporting it in Taiwan.
Your ARC is only valid for working as a teacher in Taiwan. You’re not allowed to have a second job with it. If they find out you declared a second income earned from working in Taiwan, then your existing ARC may be revoked and you may get deported for working illegally.
Why don’t you leave the cash in Europe and live off your teaching income? It’s rare that the Taiwan authorities will bother with prosecuting people for money they can’t prove exists. I used to be paranoid about this, until I realised how difficult it was for Taiwan to prove income elsewhere.
I only transfer small amounts, 20 k NT at once, only what I need to live. Regarding the deporting and losing ARC thing, I was told that this only is for other local jobs, such as working a another school or give private tutoring. But is not necessarily so for online stuff. But the person who told me was also not an official working at an agency. So I need to check this somehow.
Problem is, in Europe I can not tax it because of said reasons. But once the amount is big enough on my accounts and / or when I want to buy rental property, questions will be asked from the european authorities: where the money is coming from and where I was when I generated the money. My european bank has my taiwanese tax number (you have to give them or they close your account) and reports it to my home countries tax authority. Since there is an international automated data exchange, my home countries tax authority will report it to the taiwan tax authority. Thats how they will know, and by the time this happens (once the amount is large), the sum is stacked to an amount where there will be serious consequences. So I have to play by the rules.
yep, since 2018, its part of the updated AML Directive (Anti Money Laundering). Not all banks enforce it strictly, but my bank did, also for my network, amazon does the turnover tax and stuff like this. I have to give them my tax ID as well, or else I do not get paid. So they also have my tax ID. So Taiwan tax authorities will know one way or another eventually
Yes. Once I changed my address to Taiwan at my German bank account. They asked me to fill out tax information that included my ARC number. Otherwise they would be legally forced to close the account.
But as far as I remember it was due to a tax evading legislation in the EU where Taiwan is also cooperating.
It’s been a world wide thing for some time now, it’s called CRS (Common Reporting Standard).
Although Taiwan is not part of the OECD or the UN it will participate to avoid being blacklisted. How much information is shared varies from country to country but under reporting income etc. has become much more risky than it used to be.
With high 5 figure US income from YouTube channel I wouldn’t bother teaching English here in Taiwan, just fly in and out on visitor visas, enjoy life
Ah so, very interesting indeed…
Would this, do you reckon, be part of why I, as a resolutely non-US citizen, was required, no exceptions, to sign some indecipherable IRS form when opening a new bank account a few months ago???
Under reporting or not reporting at all is not an option, this might work with a couple hundred dollar. But when you save a sum where questions will be asked - and if you did not play by the rules and have prove for that, you will go to prison for a long time and be financially ruined for the rest of your life. There is no way any sane person would risk it. So the questions remains on how to do it, but also need to double check with the immigration.
But I know for a fact that some people I know, when they changed their ARC after 5 years teaching into an APRC, they had to prove that they earned twice as much as the minimum wage. They achieved it also by reporting their online income and everything worked fine for them and the Tax authority as well as the immigration gave them no problems and they got their APRC. So yeah, somehow there must be a way
You have the following options:
Not report the income (illegal)
Claim the income was generated while you were not in Taiwan during the year (only Taiwan sourced income is taxed)
Show them the payment history from your network and let them figure it out. You might get lucky.
A bit more advanced: Depending on your exact level of income it might be cheaper to incorporate (profit tax is 20% in Taiwan currently and you can deduct a lot of stuff).
I will email you a local CPA contact. Will check if she takes new clients.
That’s the right thing to do. Work as much as needed to have ACR. If you want to stay in Taiwan for longer you will get your APRC and then can start a business to handle your channel, employing yourself.
