Hey folks,
As a Taiwanese resident if I had an online income from the USA (I’m not an American citizen) does anyone know if the American government would impose a witholding tax on that income if I had it paid into a Taiwanese account?
Obviously I’d have to pay tax here in Taiwan…
It depends on your Taiwan business’s presence in the US.
If purely an online business (consulting, tutoring, etc) then no withholding.
If you have warehouse, employees, office, or rental property in US, then yes, maybe withholding.
It’s even possible to start an LLC in the US (as a non-US person) which uses pass-through taxation and thus won’t be liable for taxes in the US. You would then need to declare that income in your personal income tax at your place of residence (Taiwan in this case).
If you’re really lucky, the tax authorities in Taiwan would even consider the LLC’s income overseas income which wouldn’t be taxed in Taiwan - I actually asked the tax office in Taipei some months ago about this but so far they haven’t replied to me…
Otherwise, the US shouldn’t levy any withholding taxes on contractor / freelance income either.
The only exception would be if you run a company in the US which has to file for a tax return in the US - or if you sell product which require you to collect sales tax and such.