Taiwan

Living in Taiwan, and being taxed by Taiwan

These are decided by different authorities, under different rules, on different clocks. The one people get wrong is the second.

The Gold Card lets you live in Taiwan and says nothing about days. Staying more than 183 days in a year makes Taiwan tax you as a resident, and residence is also what the three-year permanent-residence clock counts. Even then the ordinary income tax reaches Taiwan-source income, and money earned abroad is picked up only by the separate basic tax once the amounts are large. These are three separate clocks running on one number.

The facts, each cited

• Gold Card, self-sponsored

  A foreign special professional planning to work in Taiwan may apply directly to the National Immigration Agency for a four-in-one Employment Gold Card combining work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate and re-entry permit. It is valid for one to three years and may be extended for up to three years at a time.

• TWD 160,000 a month

  In the field of economy, an applicant qualifies on a most recent monthly salary of at least TWD 160,000 in an economic company or economic field, in Taiwan or abroad. Other criteria in the same field cover executives at high-tech hubs and transnational corporations, doctoral holders with related awards or four years of experience, and specialists with eight years in named sectors.

• Territorial, 183 days

  For any individual having income from sources in the Republic of China, individual income tax is levied on income derived from sources in the Republic of China. A person with no domicile in Taiwan who stays more than 183 days in a taxable year is a resident for income tax purposes. Resident rates are progressive from 5% to 40%.

• TWD 7,500,000 at 20%

  Basic tax is calculated by subtracting TWD 7,500,000 from basic income and multiplying the remainder by 20%. Income derived from sources outside Taiwan and excluded from gross consolidated income may be left out of basic income where the aggregate in a filing unit is under TWD 1,000,000; otherwise it is filed in full. The Ministry of Finance confirmed the TWD 7,500,000 amount remains in effect for 2026.

• Half above TWD 3,000,000

  A foreign special professional approved to reside for work for the first time, with salary income above TWD 3,000,000, has half of the part above TWD 3,000,000 excluded from individual income tax assessment, in each tax year of the first five in which they reside in Taiwan for 183 full days.

• 3 years, no health-cover wait

  A foreign special professional who has legally and continuously resided in Taiwan for three years, residing an average of 183 days or more each year, may apply for permanent residence. Foreign special professionals also participate in National Health Insurance without being subject to the requirement of having completed six months of residence.

• 5 years, nationality surrendered

  Naturalisation requires legal residence of more than 183 days a year for at least five consecutive years. An applicant must then provide a certificate of loss of original nationality within one year of permission being granted, unless a narrow high-level-professional exemption applies.

What an expert actually does, and when

Moving to Taiwan is four different jobs for four different people, and the order matters more than the choice of any one of them. Here is the sequence, what each person settles, and what to hold them to in writing.

1. First

   A cross-border tax adviser in the country you are leaving

   Before you sell anything, move your family, or claim to have left

   This is the one whose answer can make the rest of the plan pointless, so it is worth knowing before you spend anything on the rest. A residence permit somewhere else is not the same thing as having stopped being tax-resident where you are.

   What only they can settle

   • →Whether and when your tax residence at home actually ends
   • →Which ties (home, family, accounts, memberships, company control) have to be dealt with, and in what order
   • →What you owe on the way out, and what you can elect or defer
   • →Which transactions to complete before you go rather than after

   Ask for it in writing. A written residence and departure-date memo, with the tax on leaving set out asset by asset, and a list of the evidence your position depends on.

2. Second

   An immigration lawyer in the destination

   Six to twelve months before you intend to move

   Routes look interchangeable from outside and are not. Which one you qualify for depends on evidence you may not have gathered yet, and gathering it is often the long pole.

   What only they can settle

   • →Which route your actual income, work history, and assets satisfy
   • →Which authority handles each stage, and whether your entry status has to change first
   • →What proof each requirement takes, and what is missing today
   • →How a partner and children are included, and when

   Ask for it in writing. A route recommendation with the eligibility tested against your documents, plus a dated checklist of what is still missing.

3. Third

   Document authentication and translation

   Only after the lawyer has frozen the list

   Ordering apostilles and translations before the list is settled is the most common way to pay twice. Certified documents also expire, so starting early can be worse than starting late.

   What only they can settle

   • →Which authentication chain each document needs, in its issuing country
   • →What has to be translated, by whom, and to what standard
   • →The order to obtain things in, so nothing expires while waiting for something else

   Ask for it in writing. Authenticated originals and accepted translations, tracked so you know where every document physically is.

4. Fourth

   Local advisers where you land

   Once your status is approved

   Approval is not the same as a working life. Banking, health cover, and a tenancy each have their own requirements, and several of them want the paperwork from the earlier stages.

   What only they can settle

   • →What banking will require of you, and what to prepare before you ask
   • →Which health cover satisfies the local requirement
   • →What a lease commits you to, and what your obligations are on registering it
   • →What you now have to file locally, and when

   Ask for it in writing. A working household: identity documents, an address, cover, banking, and a calendar of what renews when.

OmniFlag is not a law firm or a tax adviser. Experts are retained independently and their engagement letter defines what they advise on, what they file, and what they deliver.

What nobody puts on the Taiwan brochure

• Naturalisation costs the passport you hold. Five years of residence qualifies you to apply, and the Nationality Act then requires a certificate of loss of original nationality within one year of permission. An exemption exists for high-level professionals, but it is granted case by case and is not something to plan a move around.

• There is no retirement route. Taiwan publishes no pensionado or rentista category, so a retiree with savings and a pension but no qualifying salary history or credential has no obvious way in. The Gold Card is the route, and it tests professional standing rather than money in the bank.

• The salary tax break is narrower than it sounds. Half of salary above TWD 3,000,000 is excluded, it runs five years, it needs 183 full days in each year claimed, and it applies only to a first approval to reside for work. Someone who has already been a Taiwan tax resident does not get it.

• Foreign income is not permanently out of reach. Ordinary income tax stops at Taiwan-source income, but the separate basic tax pulls foreign-source income in once a filing unit's relevant income reaches TWD 1,000,000, then charges 20% above a TWD 7,500,000 deduction. That deduction is set annually by the Ministry of Finance and can move.

What people get wrong about Taiwan

Each of these is something a confident search result will tell you. Each is wrong, and the rule that corrects it is named.

• Commonly believed
  “Once I live in Taiwan it will tax my worldwide income like most countries do.”

  What the rule says
  Ordinary individual income tax is levied on income derived from sources in the Republic of China. Foreign-source income is reached only by the separate income basic tax, which applies 20% after a TWD 7,500,000 deduction and ignores a filing unit whose relevant income stays under TWD 1,000,000.

  Income Tax Act, art. 2

• Commonly believed
  “Five years of residence gets me a Taiwanese passport alongside the one I have.”

  What the rule says
  A foreign national applying for naturalisation must provide a certificate of loss of original nationality within one year of permission. The exemption for high-level professionals is a narrow, case-by-case determination, not a category you can count on qualifying for.

  Nationality Act, art. 9

• Commonly believed
  “I will need a Taiwanese employer to sponsor me before I can move.”

  What the rule says
  A foreign special professional may apply directly to the National Immigration Agency for a four-in-one Employment Gold Card combining work permit, resident visa, residence certificate and re-entry permit. No employer applies on your behalf and no job offer is required.

  Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals, art. 9

Common questions

Does Taiwan tax the money I earn outside Taiwan?

Mostly not, and then only above high thresholds. Ordinary income tax reaches income from Taiwanese sources. Foreign-source income is picked up by a separate basic tax, which ignores a filing unit whose relevant income stays under TWD 1,000,000 and charges 20% on what remains after a TWD 7,500,000 deduction. That deduction is announced annually, so it is worth re-checking rather than assuming.

Do I need a job in Taiwan to get the Gold Card?

No. A foreign special professional applies directly to the National Immigration Agency and receives one document that serves as work permit, resident visa, residence certificate and re-entry permit. It runs one to three years and can be extended. In the economy field the usual test is a most recent monthly salary of at least TWD 160,000.

Can I become a citizen and keep my current passport?

Almost certainly not. Naturalisation needs five consecutive years of residence at more than 183 days a year, and then a certificate showing the original nationality has been lost, filed within a year of permission. High-level professionals can be exempted from that certificate, but it is a case-by-case determination in defined fields. Plan Taiwan as residence, and treat permanent residence at three years as the realistic destination.