When I opened mine, even though I am a gold card holder, I was told I still needed the starting capital of 500k. If I wanted to sponsor a foreigner’s work permit, that is when I needed to show the 3M gross.
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The NT$500k shouldn’t be too bad with some saving. But I’m concerned about the 3 million turnover, or at least guaranteeing it for when I need to renew my entrepreneur’s visa. And it only gives you 1 year before you need to renew. It seems much higher “bang for buck” to set up the company to allow me to continue to freelance while having the tax salary documents to prove my income for Gold Card renewal (the lower salary requirement I can probably guarantee).
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I don’t think that’s right. Who told you that?
AFAIK, the NT$500k is the requirement for sponsoring the work permit of the foreign employee/manager/you, which shouldn’t be necessary if you already have an open work permit. The NT$3 million gross wouldn’t even apply there until the third year.
Maybe @fifieldt knows more?
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That sounds like a doable plan. Keep in mind that the process to open a biz here takes longer than is reasonable.
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@xgs you’re not reading the law correctly. Also be sure to check the up to date versions:
https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=A0030295
https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=G0340115
The exemption is for income sourced outside Taiwan. But in the case of working remotely, your income is derived from your work, and you’re doing the work in Taiwan. Therefore it’s sourced in Taiwan and it’s taxable.
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I wonder if there’s some specific requirement relating to your line of business (tax advisor, IIRC). I vaguely remember reading about something like that for certain industries.
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What would be examples of foreign-sourced income that qualify for tax exemption?
Dividends from foreign equities
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Another example is if you own a house or flat in another country and rent it out. The rent would be foreign sourced income.
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And dividends you pay yourself from a company started abroad (be aware, though, that depending on where you incorporate, the total taxes including the corporate taxes, withholding taxes, … might be more than what would be due in Taiwan when receiving the money directly as income).
From my understanding, what Taiwan considers “foreign-sourced” income will usually be taxed in another country already (exceptions apply, of course).
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Very much this. You can’t escape the taxman. Unless you’re filthy rich.
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The simplest way to describe is that it’s investment income and gains from outside Taiwan that are exempt (therefore interest, dividends, capital gains etc).
So, if you have income related to doing work while you’re in Taiwan (even if it’s “remote” work for customers/companies outside Taiwan), then it’s not considered overseas income – even if paid into an overseas bank account – and would be taxable under the local income tax rules.
If you have submitted an application for the extension of your Gold Card, while you are waiting for approval, you can apply for an Employment Seeking Resident Certificate (maximum 6+6 months) at the National Immigration Agency. When the extension application is approved, the validity period of your Gold Card will continue from the expiry date of your original Gold Card, meaning the validity period of your Gold Card will not be interrupted.
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My apologies. It seems he may have misunderstood this question. You don’t need the capital requirements cause you don’t need a work permit. However, if the expiry is under 3 years. I think it complicates things.
Are there requirements for renewing a 1 year GC?
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I believe the requirements for renewing/reapplying are the same as those for applying. Some of those are probably easier than others (e.g., it’s easier to still have a PhD from a top whatever-hundred uni than it is to still have a salary in Taiwan exceeding NT$160k a month).
I see. I haven’t followed GC stuff too much because I’ve been here before that was a thing.
I can see where Mengta might be perplexed.
Too late now 
My husband got his gold card approved this Monday. It has been about a month since he mailed in his documents to TECO-LA. Good luck to you. Hope you will get yours soon.
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I’m finally at a place where my family might be ready to make the jump to Taiwan before the end of this year. Our family is currently U.S. based, but still going through hoops to get Resident Visas for my spouse and children using Agents with PoA’s that have been authenticated by my local U.S. TECO in foreign countries’ Taiwan Representative Offices which all wanted PoA’s from the Agents that were authenticated by my TECO office after being notarized for documents required (in a foreign language, translated to English, e.g. birth certificates in foreign language, marriage certificate in foreign language, etc.) It’s been a royal exercise in glorious bureaucracy and hundreds of US dollars in service fees.
That being said, I’ve slowly been reading the last year or so of this thread. And it doesn’t seem like much has changed. Anything pressing I should know about before I go for my Passport Inspection, (finally)? Thanks in advance.
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