I am just wondering when is the best time to arrive in Taiwan for someone who is looking to not look for a teaching job? Currently, I am thinking about coming to Taiwan after Chinese New Year 2013 (10th Feb 2013), but I’m just wondering if this is actually a good time to come. Would there be an increase in jobs advertised at this time, or is there another time of the year when there’s more vacant positions being posted?
Also, if I was to arrive after Chinese New Year, should I wait a couple of weeks before landing in Taiwan (would things be closed for a week or two over this period)?
I understand that it’s better, tax-wise, to arrive (and start working) prior to January 1st - though, to be honest, I haven’t totally got my head around the Taiwanese taxation system.
The tax year is jan 1st to dec 31st of the same calendar year. To be considered a resident for Taiwan tax purposes you need to be physically present in Taiwan a combined 183 days or more of the calendar year.
I’m sure there are others on here better qualified than me to answer this but if it’s anything like the UK then most companies are likely to align their budgets with the formal Tax year. That means people start planning/allocating those budgets in preparation for the coming tax year and possibly hiring based on that. By this logic the best time would be Jan early 2013. However, everything pretty much closes down for Chinese New Year (like Christmas in the UK) so there is unlikley to be any activity at that time.
The big caveat to the above is that there are never any hard and fast rules to any of this and companies will be hiring throughout the year based on churn/expansion so any time is probably as good (or bad) as any other.
What are things like in December? If I landed in Taipei around mid-December, would I still have a chance to look for job opportunities, and also places to stay etc. or would Christmas roll around to quickly? Do things actually even shut down in Taiwan over Christmas/New Year?