Application result: documentation is insufficient.
1.Please provide the tax statement or salary certificate in technology-related industries or field: The payslip is not the tax withholding statement nor official tax certification.
Please supplement the tax statement or salary certificate showing that within three years prior to applying you hold a position with monthly salary of at least NT$160,000.
(the tax statement or salary certificate refers to either one of the following:
Tax withholding statement or official tax certification.
(In the case where the official certification is not available according to tax related regulations, the tax certification, after detailing that regulations, may be replaced by the employerās statement.)
Employment contract with potential future employer in Taiwan.
2.Please provide the proof of service:ā[Company Name Redacted] Employment Contract [My Name Redacted] Signed.pdfā is not an official employment certificate,
and therefore it is not recognized. Please provide the proof of service. It should be signed and stamped by the issuing agencies,
which should include the employer who pays your salary during the tax statementās period, and show that the applicant has worked domestically or abroad in technology-related industries or fields.
3.If you have any further questions regarding the documents required, please contact the Ministry of Laborās officers for more information: Ms. C[ā¦Redactedā¦] [Phone Number Redacted].
4.Documents not made in Chinese or English, should be attached with translation.
Documents issued in the Mainland area have to be attested and examined by the institutions instituted or appointed by the Executive Yuan, or non-governmental organizations entrusted by
the Executive Yuan (Strait Exchange Foundation) in accordance with the rule in Article 7 of āAct Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Areaāļ¼
Documents from the following countries/regions must be verified by an overseas ROC representative office:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bengal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Philippines,
Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
The number it says to call to ask questions is no longer in service so that kinda leaves me up to interpret the text. It sounds like if I get my company to write a āsalary certificateā and a āemployment certificateā and sign it that should be enough? They say it needs a āstampā but my company doesnāt use stamps. Also I do my taxes myself so donāt have an accountant to write anything
To give a bit of an update on the situation, today I received an update from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the WDA that I need to switch my field to the Science & Technology one.
I currently work in the FinTech industry so I should probably go with this one:
āThose with unique talents or outstanding R&D or design ability or original achievements in such cutting-edge technological fields as software applications, software technology, nanotechnology, microelectromechanical technology, optoelectronics, information and communications, communication transmission technology, automation system integration technology, material application technology, high precision sensing technology, biotechnology, resources development and energy conservation, frontier scientific research, and national defense and military strategies.ā
Iām kinda confused about the subfields tho as to what Software Applications vs Technology means. I also have no idea what to select under Subfied details as I donāt have an Academic research and Iām not sure what Specialized Technology means.
Iām planning a short trip (3 nights) to visit Taipei to pick up my Gold Card in December. With the quarantine requirements over, can I go pick up my Gold Card on the day after arrival (Day 1) or do I need to wait it out during the self quarantine?
If you wanna start freelancing (only foreign customers) in Taiwan with a gold card, what are the first steps? Can I just work and write my invoices and at the end of the year I make my tax report or do I have to āregisterā as a freelancer in Taiwan / open my freelancer business?
So, Iāve been wondering this for ages too. Found references to āsole proprietorshipā in various places. It seems to be something handled by the tax bureau, rather than MOEA which handles other types of business.
Last FY I just declared the income in what seemed like the most suitable āprofessional servicesā income category. The online system wanted evidence of that work to be mailed in. So I delivered the ę°“å® documents from the inbound international transfers to the tax bureau. I havenāt heard anything either way at this stage.
My personal take-away from the other thread was that - even if āfreelancingā exists - it still seems to be some sort of gray-area (unless one formally registers a sole proprietorship - which would require approval from the investment board as a foreigner), so starting a ārealā company (either abroad or in Taiwan) might make more sense. On the other hand, the tax bureau does not seem to have major issues with freelancing income from what I have heard.
The tax office was a bit fussy the first year asking me for additional documents from tax authorities or certified accountants in the places Iād earned the money, but I took the attitude that Iād already begrudgingly paid the taxes due and couldnāt be bothered spending all the time and money that would be necessary to get those (if it would have been possible at all), and they let it go.
Is that the āprofessional practiceā category that gets you taxed at ca. 20%, or am I thinking of something else?
I just put mine through as foreign salary/wages (or whatever the term used is - Iām outside at the moment so canāt check the tax code. Maybe 50F?) in the tax filing software. Plus some 9B income where it seemed appropriate. I havenāt been arrested yet either.
Edit: Itās 5F. Google Drive apparently knows everything. Code 50 is something else.
I agree itās not at all clear what weāre supposed to do.
My feeling is that this depends on the sector/service, with some professions seemingly requiring income to be filed as professional practice (i remember seeing a list somewhere).
For what I do, it seemed I could reasonably choose either option, but regular salary/wages was a lot more attractive than professional practice (ca. 20% vs. the ca. 1-2% I actually paid on total income, after the usual deductions, though I think professional practice also allows reasonable business deductions (that I had no use for)).
What would happen if I keep my european bank account and get all money from my customers transfered to this one? There will never be any international transfer, since I just keep withdrawing money from this account via ATMs.
I can only imagine this will be a complicated time. But luckily I am already used to complicated tax situations in Germany. Letās see what happens next year
Thatās totally fine. You donāt need international transfer receipts or proof of remitting the money to Taiwan (at least I never have).
I do include transfer receipts for one Japanese client along with the invoices, but thatās mostly because the money is converted from JPY and remitted in GBP to my UK account after a 2000 JPY service charge, so thereās a discrepancy between the monthly invoices (in JPY) and the amount Iām actually paid and declare to the tax office (in GBP). I always go through and highlight the relevant values on my invoices each year so that the important amounts (or at least the amounts I consider important) are clear to the tax office. For the clients where no international transfer has happened, I canāt include those obviously, and itās never been queried.
Itās way less complicated here than in Germany. I did my tax returns myself there for a couple of years, and I remember the tax laws being super complex (I recall reading that some high percentage of global tax regulations are written in German, but that might be apocryphal). I remember claiming an additional deduction because Iād moved between countries with different electricity voltages in the last x years, for example. Plus, you know, itās all in German.
In general, you would still be liable for taxes in Taiwan if the money was earned by performing work / rendering services from within Taiwan.
Also, if you keep receiving payments from third parties in your personal bank account without having proof of tax residency somewhere and / or paying taxes, there is some risk that the bank will terminate your account for money laundering and/or is required to relay your information to the tax authorities of your country of residence according to the records of the bank (read: If you donāt change the address of your bank account to Taiwan, the German tax authorities might start an investigation because of suspicious money inflows).
Just to share another anecdote: When I moved from Germany to Taiwan, on my last tax declaration, I had to check a box saying that Iāve moved to a low income tax countryā¦
Yeah I figured the bank/credit card company might cancel my bank account anyway, since I do not have a registered address anymore. So I donāt even know if this is a viable solution.
Some (German) banks will allow you to keep a bank account even after moving abroad. They will ask you for your new address and tax id in your new country of residence and then everything should be fine (note: Usually, by accepting the bankās T&Cs, youāll agree to updating your address with them every time you move and/or your tax status changes. And suddenly using their ATM card in another country for a longer period might raise some suspisions).
Be aware, though, that then the bank will be required to notify the tax authorities in Taiwan about your account balance (?) and other things on a yearly basis. So even without any international transfer, the tax authorities could (at least in theory) learn about that money.
Yeah I donāt plan to hide any money I earned while Iām in Taiwan. I am happy to pay tax there. In some cases itās just more comfortable to have a bank account in Germany for me and my customers.
I will try to figure all of that stuff out once my decision is final. Thanks so far guys!
