This new crackdown

Legal Taxes
1

My visa is due for renewal (actually a HUGE other tearjerking story, but I’ll stick to the tax issue in this forum), and for whatever reason, mostly laziness, I haven’t submitted my tax forms in the past two years I’ve worked here.

Looking at my tax forms I see that my first buxiban claims I only made 40,000 in a six month period. I have been told that the government is saying English teachers are not allowed to claim less than 45,000 per month. This is a rumor I heard, and whether or not they’re going to make that retroactive or if it’s even true I don’t know.

What happens when I show up two years late to submit my taxes on what obviously looks like an under claim? Should I say my old laoban was incorrect and claim a more proper amount, or just hand the papers in and smile?

2

I doubt you’ll have any problems at all. The tax department just want your money. They don’t give a shit about other departments regulations. I used to routinely pay taxes on 20000 a month.

Brian

3

Don’t know about today, but for the past 10 years when I filed in Taiwan, with all sorts of “irregular” situations (like tax forms from 10 different companies when foreigners were supposed to be working only for 1) the tax folks never said anything, other than politely correcting my math errors. :smiley: As long as you’re paying, they don’t seem to care. They did ask me one year why my income was so much lower than it had been in previous years, but they didn’t give me any problems about it.

4

Ironlady,

You said: "situations (like tax forms from 10 different companies when foreigners were supposed to be working only for 1) . Actually, I’m sort of in this situation now. I worked for another company -not a bushiban- for about a total of NT 12,000. Not much, I know, but they mailed me a tax form. I’m going to be doing my taxes shortly, will I be given any shit for this?

5

My experience, too. If they ever start carining, I for one will be out of here.

6

The situation that was explained to me during my time of taxation crisis was that the Tax Department and the MOE were separate offices that did not have any interest in each other’s affairs… So, despite the irony of your ill-gotten financial gains, it should simply be viewed as a tax issue and so, should stay in the hands of the Tax Dept. Even though you may have income from 10 different sources, provided the amount that you declare equals the amount that your employers have declared (and deducted from your wages), then it should all be good.

7

What if neither of your employers has made any deductions ever? I read somewhere else that you need a piece of paper from your employer to take to the tax people then they tell you how much you need to pay. I asked one of my employers for one of these and he said ‘Show me what it is and you can have it’. So does anybody know what the appropriate form / piece of paper etc would be?

8

“It” is a tax return form, which is a form that states the amount of earnings and the tax witheld, exactly the same as the one he and all his other employees get every year.

9

“It” is a tax return form, which is a form that states the amount of earnings and the tax witheld, exactly the same as the one he and all his other employees get every year.[/quote]
Is there an exact form number or name (in the U.S., they are called W-2 forms)?

Customarily, when (on the calendar) are these forms provided to employees in Taiwan (including foreigners)?

What is the best old thread for learning the basics of filing Taiwanese taxes?

Thanks,

Seeker4

10

There’s a form entitled:

[quote]Witholding & Non-Withholding
Tax Statement
The Republic of China[/quote]

It is about 21 cm wide by 15 cm long.

It contains such blocks as:

[quote]Present Address[/quote] etc.

[quote]Period of Income[/quote] etc.

The above items are filled out by the employer, or his accountant, etc.–in any case, not by you, as far as I know.

For those of you from the US, it sort of resembles a W-2 form.

Additionally, a copy of the form should tell you whether that copy is “For the taxpayer’s reference” or whether it should be submitted to the Tax Office.

The first one I ever got, in 2003, for the year 2002, was in Chinese. For me, the subsequent ones have been in English.

Additionally, I believe you should get, from the Tax Office or from your employer, a form entitled:

[quote][year] INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX RETURN OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA (General Form)[/quote], or something like that.

It is a large form, roughly 40 cm by 29 cm.

It is somewhat like an American Form 1040.

The law about income taxes is at dot.gov.tw/en/index.asp Point at “Announcements,” then click “Tax Related Laws and Regulations.” Then click “Income Tax Act Related Laws & Regulations.” Then you can click “Income Tax Act 2004/7/21” or “Enforcement Rules of the Income Tax Act 2004/7/21.” I cannot vouch for these webpages’ accuracy or up-to-date-ness.

There’s also tax information at iacc.com.tw/taxes.htm , a non-government site. Also, Tealit has some info. Again, I cannot vouch for these webpages’ accuracy.

Hope this helps, or at least does no harm.

xp+10K

11

sandman, xp+10k, thanks for helping. Good to be able to know where to look and what to look for. Cheers :beer: