Startup Taiwan: Foreigners Business Guide

Bonny Kross, an artist from South Africa, but with roots from other African countries including Uganda, is the first from Africa to cast his vote in Taiwan, this election 2022. We spoke with him about his journey and his purpose for exercising his right as a newly minted Taiwan citizen.

Meanwhile, our friends from Space21 co working space is offering one month free rent for desk space, office address, if you sign up for full year contract. Email me – [email protected] 

Follow Bonny Kross’ IG, to know more about his life in Taiwan as a music teacher.

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Our guest for today is Garrick Cheung from Hong Kong, founder of WorkSpace. He came to Taiwan more than 4 years ago to help people from Hong Kong set up their companies here in Taiwan. His startup WorkSpace is a co-working space and also connected to his wife's accounting firm for foreigners who wish to set up a company here. Since his co-working space is located in New Taipei City, he discusses why a foreigner should consider this location for their startups.

Accounting firm
https://www.shop1688.com.tw/aom20210331016/
Co-working space
https://www.workspace.com.tw/

This show is to answer your questions about starting up in Taiwan either for business, school, or just hanging around! So, leave your questions in the comments section below.

Our topic for today is about a foreigner who started his own Board Game company, we want to learn how he has done it and get to know more about his journey in Taiwan, so far. Let’s welcome Kurt Penny from Canada! 

What’s up, what’s down, what is going on around. I am Paolo Lising, founder of StartupInTaiwan.com. This show is to answer your questions about starting up in Taiwan either for business, school, or just hanging around! So, leave your questions in the comments section below.

Our topic for today is the challenges of banking in Taiwan

1.    Citibank, one of the biggest banks in the US, is no longer operating in Taiwan. They left not just in Taiwan, but other countries too including Russia, Thailand, and the Philippines. So, for all of you Americans to consider, maybe open a Bank of America account first, before moving here. 

You’re probably wondering – why can’t I just keep my Citibank account and transfer my money from abroad – good luck with that!

2.    Wiring money from your account abroad to your bank in Taiwan has to be done physically, not online. And if you want it, to go smoothly, do it at a branch of your bank back home. For example, Bank of America in America to Bank of America here in Taiwan.

3.    Taiwan banks are not well integrated in international banking system, which mostly stems from Taiwan, preventing a heavy inflow of capital from China, thus affecting even flow of capital from other countries. 

4.    When you open a bank account here, you can be denied of it, even when you have all the papers to prove that it is not laundered cash. 

5.    There are too many banks in Taiwan. 18 bank branches and 161 ATMs for every 100,000 adults. Too many banks lead to excessive competition and low profits of banks. This could be the reason why many banks do not want to lend money to foreigners.

6.    Foreigners who wish to borrow money from banks must have a Taiwanese guarantor, and this guarantor will be responsible for paying in case of default.

7.    Those who are holding a Gold Card are exempt from this “guarantor rule.” It has been a cause of rage by many ARC and APRC holders, calling it unfair ruling especially when we, and by we I mean me and my buddies who have this card, have been paying taxes for years as a proof of our stable income and commitment to stay in Taiwan.

8.    There could be a ruling coming out soon, exempting foreign startup founders from having a guarantor for borrowing for the purpose of running their business. I don’t know the exact detail, but the source is pretty high up there.

9.    Only E SUN can be connected to PayPal. So, if you’re receiving money through PayPal, make sure you have an E SUN bank account, make sure your name in PayPal is exactly the same as your name in your E SUN bank account or you’ll have a problem.

Elias Ek, Founder and CEO of Enspyre, and author of How to Start a Business in Taiwan, talks about the opportunities for foreigners to invest in local startups in Taiwan as he invites them to attend at upcoming event on June 20th, 6:30pm at FutureWard.

The event will have him and other foreigners who have invested in startups in Taiwan that are owned by foreigners and even locals. 

To register for this event, go to - https://www.facebook.com/events/1349182355579419/?ti=ls

We’re starting a new segment, delivering some news and or insights about the hottest topics for foreigners here in Taiwan.

This month of May, is tax filing season so here are some important things that you need to remember. 

1.   The government of Taiwan has extended the filing of taxes for individual, business, and property taxes until June 30th, to avoid crowding at tax offices, now that we’re experiencing a surge in the number of COVID cases.

2.   For business owners, you need to file taxes every two months, that is every other month starting January, March, May, July, and so on. But for individuals, you only do it in May, and this year, you have until June 30th according to the Ministry of Finance.

3.   For foreigners who own a business, you actually don’t need an accountant to file taxes for you. You can do it on your own.

4.   You don’t need to separately file for full year tax statement, unless you need to submit receipts that you have just collected, for example some big items that you purchased months ago but failed to submit in your last filing. Usually, tax office does not mind these expense receipts because it helps them collect higher taxes.

5.   If this is your first time to get an accountant to help you with your tax filing

a.   Most of them will charge you for filing taxes on a monthly basis but they only file your taxes every two months

b.   Most of them will charge you for filing taxes every month and one more month for “full year tax filing”, when it is already included in the scheduled filing every other month.

6.   The going rate for monthly tax filing that Taiwanese accountants charge is NTD3,000 per month, anyone asking for lower amount is OK, anyone charging higher is taking advantage of your lack of research.

Jake Morrison from the US has been living in Taiwan for almost 30 years, and been running his tech company here for 19 years.

His focus is converting business opportunities into new products, designing user experiences and then bringing them to life. Morrison has delivered hundreds of projects in health care, FinTech, AdTech, telecom, and supply chain, including challenging high-integrity and high-performance apps handling billions of transactions a day.

Morrison finished his Bachelor of Science (BS), Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical/Space Engineering from the University of Southern California. He also went to the National Taiwan Normal University for Chinese language studies, he is fluent in business and technical Chinese with HSK 5+ level. He also studied Japanese Language from the National Taiwan University, he is intermediate Japanese JPT3+ level.

Despite being in Taiwan for almost 30 years, he hasn't applied for permanent residency. His father served as a professor at the National Taiwan University for 14 years and was not even qualified for retirement benefits after his stint. 

This event is organized by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a technology research and development institution in Taiwan. ITRI has been organizing these events to foster startup growth. 

Paolo Lising, founder of StartupInTaiwan.com, and MillionDC Ltd. was chosen to host the event. The guest speakers were Bruce Bateman, Chairman of Innovation and Startup Ecosystem at LITEON, and Melody Ho, Marketing Director of Glia Cloud.

This event is organized by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a technology research and development institution in Taiwan. ITRI has been organizing these events to foster startup growth. 

Paolo Lising, founder of StartupInTaiwan.com, and MillionDC Ltd. was chosen to host the event. The guest speakers were Bruce Bateman, Chairman of Innovation and Startup Ecosystem at LITEON, and Melody Ho, Marketing Director of Glia Cloud.

Since Google joined Safari and Firefox in blocking third-party cookies, people have been speculating on the consequences and seeking out alternatives, as a significant amount of digital activities are dependent on third-party cookies. What does going cookieless mean? 

Our topic for today is a little bit edgy, why is Taiwan not so a competitive place for startups. 

Jachim Gobien, from Belgium is a freelance management consultant with a corporate banking background. He has almost a decade of work at BNP Paribas in Belgium and in the Middle East.

Through his startup, Galablynx, Jachim provides financial analysis, financial modeling, and risk management services to SMEs, VCs, and PE firms.