Taiwan Income Tax Residence When You Arrive or Leave Midyear

You landed in Taiwan in the spring, kept your job with a company abroad and received salary into your old bank account. Or you are leaving after several months here. In either case, the useful first question is not what your residence card says. It is how Taiwan's income-tax rules classify you for this tax year and where you did the work that earned the pay.

Keep a dated record of every entry and exit, your employer and where each part of your work was done. Those facts determine the tax route much more reliably than a label such as “expat” or “remote worker.”

Does a partial year make you a tax resident?

Income Tax Act Article 7 gives two routes to residence. The first covers a person with a domicile in Taiwan who habitually resides here. The second covers a person without a Taiwan domicile who stays here for a total of at least 183 days in one tax year. Anyone outside those definitions is a nonresident for this Act. Do not use 183 days as a universal rule that erases the first route.

The Ministry of Finance's Article 7 explanation describes how it assesses the domicile and habitual-residence route, including household registration and, in some cases, the person's center of life and economic interests. A foreign national without Taiwan household registration will often start with the no-domicile day-count route, but unusual facts deserve an individual check. An ARC or visa authorizes an immigration status; it does not itself answer Article 7's tax question. If you are considering residence rights after years in Taiwan, see the separate permanent residence guide.

Which days count when I cross the border several times?

The Taipei National Taxation Bureau's day-count guidance says to use passport stamps or an entry-exit date certificate issued by the National Immigration Agency. For its calculation, the entry day is excluded and the exit day included; multiple stays in the same tax year are added together. The bureau's filing FAQ frames that year as January 1 through December 31.

If you arrived late in one year and left early in the next, make a separate calculation for each year. If you leave and return, keep both trips in the same year's tally. At a boundary such as 90 or 183 days, obtain the official entry-exit record rather than relying on flight booking dates.

Is overseas salary for work in Taiwan Taiwan-source income?

Article 2 taxes an individual on Taiwan-source income under the Act and generally places a nonresident's Taiwan-source income under withholding unless another rule applies. Article 8(3) identifies remuneration for services performed in Taiwan as Taiwan-source. The clause then makes a narrow exception: a nonresident who stays no more than 90 days in the tax year does not have Taiwan-source remuneration under this clause for services paid by an employer outside Taiwan.

Both conditions matter. A Taiwan payer does not become an offshore employer because it pays into a foreign account. Nor does salary from an offshore employer stay outside Taiwan-source income simply because the money never enters Taiwan. If a nonresident's total stay in the tax year exceeds 90 days, the Article 8(3) exception does not apply, and the overseas employer's pay for all of that year's Taiwan work is Taiwan-source. The Taipei bureau's offshore-employer FAQ discusses evidence of that remuneration. Work performed outside Taiwan calls for its own factual allocation; keep your work calendar and pay records.

How does a resident file, and what if I depart?

For the ordinary annual route, Article 71 calls for a return for the preceding year during May 1–31. It also allows a resident whose total annual consolidated income does not exceed that year’s exemption and standard-deduction total to skip a return, with exceptions including a claim for a withholding refund. Check the official current-year figures rather than carrying an old amount forward. The fact that an employer withheld tax does not, by itself, settle whether you need a resident return.

Departure has a separate rule. Under Article 71-1, a resident who ends a Taiwan domicile or residence and leaves during the year files for that year's income before leaving, subject to the article's resident-spouse exception. The Taipei bureau's filing FAQ likewise directs a foreign resident departing midyear to deal with that year's return before departure. A short trip abroad is not automatically the same as ending a Taiwan domicile or residence; give the tax office your actual plans.

What if I remain a nonresident?

Article 73 removes a nonresident with income covered by statutory withholding from Article 71's annual return route: the withholding agent deducts tax when paying. If the nonresident has Taiwan-source income outside that withholding scope and leaves before the year's return period begins, Article 73 requires a return and payment before departure. If still in Taiwan during that filing period, the filing is due within the period under the applicable rules. The MOF filing FAQ gives, as an example of income that still has to be reported, pay from an overseas employer for work done in Taiwan when the stay in that tax year exceeds 90 days.

This means “nonresident” is not a synonym for “nothing to file.” Compare the pay statement with the actual payer, the place of work and the withholding certificate. For a planned departure, tell the National Taxation Bureau your dates and income types early enough to resolve whether a departure filing is needed. The Taipei bureau's filing FAQ explains the practical 90-day, 91–182-day and 183-day paths; those administrative bands do not replace Article 7's two-limb definition.

What should I send for an initial review?

Make a one-page timeline for each tax year: entry and exit dates, immigration status, Taiwan address, employer names and locations, where the work was done, gross pay and who withheld any tax. Add a copy of the relevant entry-exit record, pay statements and any Taiwan withholding certificates. If the company has a Taiwan affiliate or someone else bears the salary cost, identify them. Those details can change how the income is assessed.

Attorney Wei Tseng (曾雋崴) at Hovering International Law Firm can review the Taiwan-side issue. She can be reached by email at wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw, or at 7F-2, No. 35, Sec. 1, Chengde Rd., Datong Dist., Taipei City 103, Taiwan. In a first email, send the timeline above and your planned departure date. This guide is general information; the tax office and your adviser should assess your own records before you file.

Official sources

• Income Tax Act: Article 2, Article 7, Article 8, Article 71, Article 71-1 and Article 73.
• MOF: who is a resident under Article 7.
• MOF: when a foreign taxpayer may omit a return.
• Taipei National Taxation Bureau: calculating days.
• Taipei National Taxation Bureau: filing dates.
• Taipei National Taxation Bureau: remuneration from an overseas employer.

Checked: September 29, 2026