U.S Citizen legally paid with no ARC as "Consultant"?

I was just curious if anyone has ever heard of being hired as a U.S Citizen without an ARC, but as a “Consultant” ?? I currently work at a company who applied for a work permit for me, but was rejected. However, they told me there’s a way around it, being hired as a “consultant” of some sort?? Is this legal?

It doesn’t include any of the perks like health insurance, etc. but also no tax was deducted from my paycheck last month. How did they do this?

Almost certainly illegal.

Article 51 of the Employment Services Law provides for consultants who are employed by a foreign entity without a Taiwan presence. Their Taiwan agent can apply for a work permit.

Will you get caught? Probably not.

This is exactly what my boss says:

(me) says:
Can you define this consultant thing and how it works with the law? Or point me in a direction where I can find out more about it? I don’t know how it’s legal, etc… my understanding is foreigners can’t work in Taiwan w/out a work permit.
(boss) says:
it’s a gray area
Steve says:
basically Taiwan companies can hire foreign companies to wortk for them
(me) says:
foreign companies or employees?
(boss) says:
that’s why it’s gray
(boss) says:
basically you can hire foreign individuals as consultants
(boss) says:
but they shouldn’t be working long-term, full time
(boss) says:
long-term and full time are not defined

Anyone know what he means?

I was offered a job as a “consultant” once: two years, no arc, no tax. But after two years you need to leave Taiwan as there is some problem with the tax issue. I don’t know how this works or doesn’t because I didn’t take the job to find out.

When I asked why I had to leave the island after two years the initial responce was something like, “Look, you’re not likely to be staying here after that long anyway. Most foreigners don’t.”

Take a good look and good luck!

[quote=“housecat”]I was offered a job as a “consultant” once: two years, no arc, no tax. But after two years you need to leave Taiwan as there is some problem with the tax issue. I don’t know how this works or doesn’t because I didn’t take the job to find out.

When I asked why I had to leave the island after two years the initial responce was something like, “Look, you’re not likely to be staying here after that long anyway. Most foreigners don’t.”

Take a good look and good luck![/quote]

Yeah but how do you stay in Taiwan then? Under what type of visa? Do you have to leave every time your visitor’s visa is close to deadline?

Taiwan taxes must be paid on Taiwan source income regardless of your visa status.

Anyone who says otherwise is in error.

Refer to the Income Tax Law.

Moreover, the National Tax Administration has consistently pointed out that whether a foreigner has (1) a valid work permit, or (2) a valid visa, is not their concern. Their only concern is to see that proper tax withholding and tax payment is made.

I’ve only been in Taiwan a few years, but I have heard this phrase (and variations on it) so many times–uttered by both Taiwanese and foreigners alike.

“Don’t pay your parking and speeding tickets. You’re leaving the country anyway.”

“Just go ahead and sign the lease for the apartment for the next three years. Yeah, you’re leaving in a few months, but you’re never coming back to Taiwan, right?”

“Don’t worry about taxes. You’re never coming back to Taiwan.”

and so on and so on…

In all these cases, I made it clear to the person that I probably would be returning to Taiwan someday–or I wanted to stay a while longer. At the very least, I would like to have the option to return to Taiwan and not have some unpaid bills or unpaid taxes haunting me.

I’m no angel, but I truly dislike hearing of schemes like these.

Sure, sitting in a bar, you are sure to hear tales of someone’s buddy who overstayed his visa for five years, never paid taxes, and left Taiwan with a small fine and pat on the back at the airport. Or someone will tell you (or post here telling) how that person worked as a consultant and never paid taxes and so on.

But from my limited experience–in Taiwan and in the world at large–those types of schemes always come back to bite you.

So, I would say–just pay the taxes. And ask, is being employed as a consultant better for me–or for the boss and his/her company ???

[quote]But from my limited experience–in Taiwan and in the world at large–those types of schemes always come back to bite you.[/quote]If not, they come back to bite the rest of us, take a peek in the Guarantors’s thread