Visa runs - Can I have a remote job and pay taxes in Taiwan?

Legal Visa & Residency
1

Hello, fellow Forumosans!

I am in Taiwan to live with my fiancée for some time and planning to relocate with her back to my country a year or few later.
Currently I’m here on Visitor Visa for students and studying in a language school, which I am not very fond of, as it costs too much of time and also some money (while she could teach me at home) and I am not allowed to work on this type of visa.

We are planning to get married, but since my 180 days visitor visa expires before the end of the current (3months long) semester, as I arrived a month upfront, I need to apply for student ARC (correct me please, if Im saying anything incorrectly) and after we would get married, to obtain the marriage type ARC, the clerk at immigration office in Taipei told us, that I need our marriage get legalized in my country (I can get that without leaving Taiwan, I already asked at my country’s official office) - he was telling me I need to go there, which is quite far, but he was either uninformed or mean about that.
After that, he told us, that I’m supposed to leave Taiwan, as it is not possible to switch the visa and as I understood that something in the process takes more than a week, I’d need to go for a forced holiday abroad, which is a waste of money.

Now, the thing is…
Considering, that I’d need to get some health check (2000NTD) and wait up to more than a week, also all my proofs about the measles and others vaccinations are not in English and I forgot it in my home country anyway, so I’d need some another test for antigens with unknows results…
Also the thing with household registration, which most landlords are reluctant to give…
It is possible to buy that separately, but that’s another money and a drag.

I came to a conclusion, that after all, doing the visa runs might end up actually cheaper and more convenient.
As I’d be in Taiwan more than 183 days per last 365 days, can I work remotely for a foreign employer and pay taxes legally, while on the visa run?

I’m sorry for the long post and thank you very much for any helpful advice!

2

Don’t do visa runs. It’s not guaranteed, you could be deemed as not performing to the purpose of your stay.

https://roc-taiwan.org/th_en/post/7477.html

Get a digital nomad visa instead.

3

You don’t need a landlord to allow you to register household registration if you are a foreigner, as foreigners can’t have household registration. You just take your rental contract with you when you apply for your ARC and they will put that address on your ARC.

4

I think, that it is very cool either for single people or for foreign couples where both are digital nomads.

Unfortunately, it seems, that it does not apply to the area where we live and because of my fiancée’s job contract, we cannot move anywhere far.

I never had a remote job before, just wanted to use my skills and experience to find something using the same skills, but online only.

5

And if the rental contract is on my fianceé’s name?
I moved in while it was already rented, even though my name might be mentioned in the contract, I’d need to ask about that, as my knowledge of Chinese language is still very limited.

6

Just FYI, it’s the calendar year that matters not the last 365 days (and either way it doesn’t affect whether you can legally work remotely; you can/should still file taxes though if you’re required to file taxes).

7

If I understood it correctly, the usual way to file taxes in Taiwan is yearly even for employees and you can choose to pay them yearly even as an employee after you exceed the no tax limit, right?

So if I stay in Taiwan in whatever legal way and earn money remotely, in the spring of 2026, I’d file and pay taxes in Taiwan - for the year 2025?

8

Yes, in May 2026 (even if you weren’t working legally - – the tax office historically hasn’t had a problem with people working remotely while on visa exemptions and filing taxes for such work AFAIK, but that’s not a recommendation, legal advice, or a guarantee it’ll always be fine; it’s a gray area at best, but the tax office seems to care only about taxes not the immigration/labor aspects).

I wouldn’t say it’s a completely free choice, because many companies want to/are supposed to withhold.

9

On the other hand you can set up a company here (Requires $500000 TWD paid in capital) or a branch office here and get an ARC that way.

10

Thats also a great idea, I cannot afford it now though, but when I thought about that nomad visa, I could basically rent something very very cheap in the nomad visa location and just go there for weekends here and there, while living in another city, right?

11

There is no specific city for the digital nomad thing. It’s been misleadingly reported as Tainan I think. Can live any where in TW

17
18

Worked fine for my gold card. Just write 2 sentences, which states she confirms that you live with her since date X at address Y. Both sign it.

26

Would a member of your fiancées family be willing to let you put your name on that registration?

Or are you and your fiancée planning on getting your own place? You can get her name on the paperwork and once you get your ARC you can use that for your registration