What is the poverty limit in Taiwan?

I got a slip from my boss saying how much I make for the year, its 230,000 NT for the year. I don’t know if I have to file taxes or whatever… any idea what is the poverty threshold? I barely make 20k a month and if I have to pay taxes it will kill me…

my recollection is you won’t have to pay, believe the min is 360,000 and there is still the possibility of deductions beyond that. filing would most likely just be a formality, unless you’re expecting a refund.

“Poverty limit” is completely subjective. If you were making your salary in the US you would definitely be below the threshold. In the Mainland US, the limit for poverty with a family of 1 is $9,800, for a family of 2 it’s $13,200, for three it’s $16,600. The limit is slightly higher in Alaska and higher yet in Hawaii.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in … ted_States

But of course that threshold varies from country to country. Haiti does not set the bar at the same level as Luxembourg. I don’t know what’s considered poverty in Taiwan. But all that is a different subject from your real question – whether you have to pay taxes, which depends on Taiwan’s tax law.

I recall hearing somewhere that minumum wage is somewhere between nt$15-16,000/month; that’s less than $500 US a month :astonished: .

Rest easy: You’ll only have to pay tax if your income is above around nt$36-37,000 a month, depending on deductions you are eligible for.

$15,840 a month for full time 180hr/month employees, $66/hr for part time.

I am in a similar situation, have a form from employer saying zero tax deducted. Do I still have to physically go to the tax office and file?

[quote=“citizen k”]I recall hearing somewhere that minumum wage is somewhere between nt$15-16,000/month; that’s less than $500 US a month :astonished: .

[/quote]

I’ve lived on about $600 a month in the U.S. before, but that was 10 years ago and in Arkansas. I paid 1/3 of my wages on rent. So considering the cost of living in Taiwan, it’s still doable - if you pay 1/3 of your salary on rent, that’s around 5,000NT (gets me a two-bedroom apartment in Tainan, but will get you a shoebox in Taipei), leaving you 11,000NT for food and sundry. That breaks down to roughly 400NT per diem. Which is certainly doable if you walk/bicycle everywhere and live off of lunchboxes & food from the morning/night markets. If you watch your wallet you can even afford a party at the local outdoor beer bar on Saturday night, quaffing down those big brown 60NT Taiwan Beer tallboys.

Of course most Taiwanese living on that salary wouldn’t throw away 5000NT on rent, they’d live with their extended family, so it would be more like 500NT per day. You wouldn’t be able to save, but if you live like a local, you’d get by. You don’t exactly see a lot of starving and homeless in this country. Minimum wage allows you to live a reasonable lifestyle considering the low cost of living.

If you are homeless in Taiwan its probably cause you were irresponsible or lazy or both… Unemployment is about 4-6% (US is like 10% and probably rising due to all the Mexicans).

[quote]PostPosted: Mon, 28 May 2007 22:11 Post subject: Re: what is the poverty limit in Taiwan?
If you are homeless in Taiwan its probably cause you were irresponsible or lazy or both… Unemployment is about 4-6% (US is like 10% and probably rising due to all the Mexicans).[/quote]

:unamused: Maybe you could confine your political spiel to the appropriate forum.

Can anyone answer my tax related query?

So, you earned income, but no tax was deducted by your employer?

My answer to your question is: “Yes, you do have to file”. Not all employers deduct tax; doesn’t mean you are exempt from paying it. :wink: