Can someone handle my Taiwan tax after I leave? The local-agent rule in Article 72

Can a U.S. accountant take over the Taiwan return once an American employee moves home? An engagement covering overseas tax work does not, on its own, establish the approved agency contemplated by Taiwan’s Income Tax Act Article 72(2). That provision identifies an individual resident in Taiwan and requires tax-authority approval. The appointment needs its own legal basis.

The person taking over the Taiwan filing

Article 72(2) addresses taxpayers within Articles 71-1(2) and 73 who, because of special circumstances, cannot file and pay on time or personally. It allows them, with approval, to entrust responsibility to an individual resident in Taiwan. A local payroll contact may supply figures without undertaking that role. Whether a proposed arrangement meets the rule therefore turns on the person, the scope of the mandate and the approval, as well as the taxpayer’s circumstances.

For a move to the United States, these distinctions affect what needs to remain with the Taiwan file. Income records support the return; appointment and approval records show who is to handle filing and payment. Sending a payroll spreadsheet overseas proves neither approval nor completion of the return. The documents serve different purposes.

An appointment does not dispose of the tax balance

The second part of Article 72(2) permits the tax authority to notify the departure authority not to process departure where tax is unpaid or filing and payment have not been entrusted to a CPA or another lawful agent. The statute uses an alternative. It does not require both unpaid tax and a missing appointment before a notice can be issued.

So an approved arrangement is not a travel guarantee. Payment records still matter. Where a notice already exists, the appointment documents and tax account need to be read with the authority’s handling of that notice; a signed mandate does not establish that every ground affecting departure has gone away.

For comparison, Tax Collection Act Article 24 uses thresholds for individuals residing in Taiwan of NT$1 million in finalized overdue tax and finalized fines, separately or combined, and NT$1.5 million before administrative remedies conclude. That route requires prior statutory property-preservation measures and does not apply where equivalent security has already been provided. Its restriction cannot exceed five years from the immigration agency’s restriction date. Full payment or equivalent security, among other grounds, requires the Ministry of Finance to request release. The Ministry’s rules add necessity and other conditions, excluding fines and additional administrative-remedy interest from unfinalized amounts. Its public explanation also identifies possible administrative-enforcement measures. The broader exit-ban column covers that framework. Article 72 contains no such monetary threshold.

Which return is being handed over?

Before an agent takes responsibility, the taxpayer’s filing route must be identified. A resident ending a Taiwan domicile or residence and leaving during the year files and pays for that year before departure under Article 71-1(2). Where a resident spouse continues living in Taiwan, that spouse files jointly under Article 71, whose ordinary statutory period is May 1–31 of the following year. A short visit home does not itself establish that the Taiwan domicile or residence has ended.

Tax residence under Article 7 has two routes: a Taiwan domicile with habitual residence, or no Taiwan domicile but at least 183 days in a tax year. For a nonresident, Article 73 generally uses withholding for the specified income. Non-withholding income requires filing and payment before departure if the person leaves before the filing period starts; a person still here during that period files within it. These distinctions determine what the agent is being asked to handle, rather than the location of the taxpayer’s next job.

The extension provision concerns a deceased taxpayer

Article 72(1) permits an extension concerning a deceased person’s return, on an application by the executor, heir or estate administrator. Paragraph 2 supplies the agency route discussed here. It does not give a departing employee that same extension. Approval to use an agent and extra time to file cannot simply be treated as one decision.

A Taiwan lawyer can assess the filing route and proposed mandate, review the approval record and departure notice, and handle legal submissions or challenges with the relevant authority. Consultations with an English-speaking lawyer in Taipei are available through Hovering International Law Firm at wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw. Taipei: 7F-2, No. 35, Sec. 1, Chengde Rd., Datong Dist., Taipei City 103. Taichung: 6F-1, No. 19, Guanqian Rd., North Dist., Taichung City 40453 (臺中市北區館前路19號6樓之1).

Before the file moves overseas, it should identify the Taiwan agent’s actual mandate and approval status alongside the return and payment still to be completed.

Sources

Checked: October 23, 2026.

• Income Tax Act (所得稅法) — Article 72
• Tax Collection Act (稅捐稽徵法) — Article 24
• rules
• public explanation
• Income Tax Act (所得稅法) — Article 71-1
• Income Tax Act (所得稅法) — Article 71
• Income Tax Act (所得稅法) — Article 7
• Income Tax Act (所得稅法) — Article 73