For foreigners who obtain the approval of employment from Taiwan Ministry of Labor, they have to visit the Taiwan official entity situated at their local countries to apply for the visa before entering the territory of Taiwan. The holder shall exchange the visa into ARC (Alien Resident Certificate) to start working in 5 days from the date of entry.
The basic privileges for foreigners working in Taiwan as following:
1Health Insurance
For ARC holders, the national health insurance is mandatory to cover during the period of residency in Taiwan. The coverage of such insurance is all necessary medical expenditures, including paramedic, hospitalization, dental, Chinese medicines and prescribed medicines. The insured person still needs to afford a fixed amount of fees upon visiting a medical treatment, but the rest of amount will be covered by the national health insurance. Thus, it doesn’t need to worry about the medical and treatment fees. The health insurance provides publics with overall medical cares.
Labor Insurance
For companies which number of employees are less than 5 persons, it is compulsory to cover additional labor insurance. The coverages of such insurance are maternity benefits, injury of sickness benefits, medical care benefits, disability benefits, old-age benefits, funeral grant benefits.
For those who meet the following conditions are not allowed to work in Taiwan legally:
(1) Without the approval of employment but work in Taiwan;
(2) Serve for other employers without the approval of employment;
(3) Engage in other works than the works under the coverage of approval;
(4) Be absent without justifiable grounds more than 3 days;
(5) Reject or fail to proceed health inspection;
(6) Defy the regulations of Employment Service Act
Foreigners who violate the abovementioned regulations during the period of employment would be abolished his/her permit to stay and asked to exit from the territory of Taiwan as well as prohibited to work in Taiwan in the following 3 years. For Taiwan employers who hire foreigners without approval of employment, a valid copy of approval, or from other foreigners hired by other companies, it may be faced the fine up to TWD 150,000 to TWD 750,000.
Disclaimer
All information in this article is only for the purpose of information sharing, instead of professional suggestion. Kaizen will not assume any responsibility for loss or damage.
If you have not received the tax bill in Taiwan, does that mean you do not have to pay the tax? A reminder to everyone, tax bills are sent via registered mail. If the mail is not collected and the post office retains it, it is still considered delivered under the law even if you did not actually receive it.
Taiwanese individuals who invest in overseas financial products or real estate must file an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) return if their total annual foreign-source income exceeds TWD1,000,000 and their basic income surpasses the exemption threshold (TWD 7,500,000 for the 2024 tax year). It is important to note that different types of income, such as capital gains and interest, are categorized seperately and cannot be aggregated for tax calculation purposes.
According to “Tabacco and Alcohol Control Act” in Taiwan, the definition of tobacco is a product made entirely or partially from tobacco or its substitutes, designed for smoking, chewing, sucking, sniffing, or other forms of use. If one plans to import the types of tobacco into Taiwan, it is necessary to apply to the Taiwan Ministry of Finance for a tobacco import business license.
The current business tax thresholds for sales of goods and services in Taiwan are TWD 80,000 per month for goods and TWD 40,000 per month for services. These thresholds are anticipated to increase to TWD 100,000 and TWD 50,000, respectively, following revisions to the relevant regulations. The updated regulations are expected to be previewed at the end of October 2024, with implementation scheduled for January 1, 2025.