Since the entry into force of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals on February 8, 2018, the Employment Gold Card and the tax concession provided for by the Act have drawn particular attention from foreign chambers of commerce, domestic enterprises and foreign professionals. In view of the doubt concerning the scope of application of the tax concession, the NDC has coordinated with the Ministry of Finance to provide a more flexible interpretation of the scope and mechanism of the concession under the provisions of the Act, as set out in The Conditions for Application of Article 9 of the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals in Respect of First Approval to Reside in the State for the Purpose of Work, issued as an interpretation decree by the Ministry of Finance on October 28, 2019 (
https://law.dot.gov.tw/law-ch/home.jsp?id=18&parentpath=0,7&mcustomize=newlaw_view.jsp&dataserno=201910280002). The decree and explanatory diagram are as follows:
1.Decree:
Ministry of Finance 2019.10.28 Tai-Cai-Shui-Zi No. 10800648790
The Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (hereafter “the Act”) became effective on February 8, 2018. Where a foreign national for the first time took up engagement in professional work in the Republic of China (hereafter “the State”) before the Act came into effect, then provided the duration of this first employment contract covers a period extending from before and into the year in which Act came into effect (2018), and during the term of this contract said person has been recognized as a foreign special professional as prescribed in Article 4 Subparagraph 2 of the Act, said person may be recognized as meeting the conditions in Article 9 of the Act in respect of having been approved to reside in the State for the purpose of work starting from the year in which the Act came into effect. When filing an individual tax return, said foreign national may apply to utilize the applicable tax benefit by appending relevant documentation (such as a foreign special professional work permit or Employment Gold Card) issued by the Ministry of Labor or the Ministry of the Interior’s National Immigration Agency, sufficient to prove his/her being a foreign special professional during the term of this first employment contract.
2.Explanatory diagram: