Ministry of Finance has further relaxed customs procedures for free trade zone goods in line with the July 2009 revision of the Act for the Establishment and Management of Free Trade Zones. The relaxation will benefit free trade zone companies that engage in business and trade activities, and facilitate development of the MICE (meetings, incentive travel, conventions, and exhibitions) industry. Continue reading »
Government Response to ECCT suggestions on various topics:
Asset Management:
Cancellation of ceiling amount on the raising of onshore funds and lowering of the minimum amount from NT$600 million to NT$300 million.
Automotive Industry:
1. Lowering, by the Environmental Protection Administration, of the sulfur content for domestically refined and imported motor gas and diesel fuel in reference to the EU’s control standards for automotive fuel.
2. Revision, by the Environmental Protection Administration, of stage V emissions standards for diesel vehicles to harmonize with Euro 5 regulations. The revision is to be implemented in 2012. Continue reading »
The period of visa-free stays in Taiwan for citizens of New Zealand has been extended to 90 days, up from the original 30, effective November 30. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), which announced the extension recently, expects it to help bring more international travelers to Taiwan and invigorate the island’s tourism industry. Continue reading »
A company that establishes a headquarters in Taiwan that reaches a certain scale with significant economic effect will be exempt from profit-seeking-enterprise income tax on income derived from providing management or R&D services to related foreign companies it has acquired (i.e. royalty income, profits from investment and gains from the disposition of property). Continue reading »
In the World Bank’s Doing Business 2010 report, Taiwan’s ranking in the “Ease of Doing Business” index soared 15 places to the 46th among the 183 countries covered. In degree of improvement, this ranked Taiwan the 5th in the world. Continue reading »
Based on recent changes in retirement benefits, according to the law an employee upon retirement currently may receive benefits from up to three sources, depending on the employee’s retirement scheme selection. Continue reading »
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) recently relaxed restrictions on real estate transactions by insurance companies and non-interested parties. In the future, insurance firms will be able to choose either stockholders’ equity or enterprise funds to use as the measure of threshold for such transactions.
When insurance firms carried out real estate transactions with the same person, the same interested party, or the same affiliated enterprise in the past, the amount of a single transaction could not exceed 35% of stockholders’ equity and the total amount of all transactions could not exceed 70%. With many insurance companies experienced reduced net worth because of the financial crisis, the FSC indicates, the original rules led to an increased difficulty of real estate investment by insurance firms. In view of the relatively high threshold for real estate transactions compared with general investment tools, the relative stability of prices, and the problem of finding alternative investments, plus the differences in the characteristics of this type and other types of investment, the revision provides for the use of insurance enterprises’ funds in calculating the amount of real estate investment in order to realize differentiated management.
The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) recently issued an interpretation announcing that intra-company transferees sent to Taiwan by multinational enterprises no longer need to have their work experience certification verified by an overseas representative office of Taiwan.
In the past when an employer wanted to hire people from certain countries-Nigeria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Syria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Indonesia the foreign documentation that had to be submitted was required to be verified by an overseas Taiwan representative office. The CLA has now made it easier for foreign employees of multinational companies by relaxing the verification conditions. Now, any foreign professional of whatever nationality who is employed by a multinational enterprise in specialized or technical work and who is transferred to a branch or subsidiary in Taiwan no longer needs to have his or her work experience certification verified by an overseas representative office of the Taiwan government.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) recently promulgated the “Principles for the Determination of Income Earned in the ROC as Provided in Article 8 of the Income Tax Act,” providing that remuneration earned by companies without bases or agents in Taiwan, and remuneration for which proof can be submitted that the service was provided overseas, need not be included in income from sources in the ROC for tax purposes. The same principle applies to individuals, juristic persons, groups, and other organizations from mainland China that derive remuneration in Taiwan. Continue reading »
The Ministry of Economic Affairs recently revised the “Regulation Governing the Application of Business Registration” to accept a copy of the lease signed by the businessman in his or her own name and by the property owner as a substitute for the letter of consent of the owner for business registration, amendment to registration, and branch office registration.
The MOEA’s Department of Commerce notes that in the past, a business person applying for business registration had to affix a copy of the ownership certificate of the building where the business is located; if the owner of the property was not the responsible person of a business, however, then the original copy of an agreement by the owner, or a copy of a lease signed by the business (profit-seeking enterprise) and the owner had to be affixed.
At the present time, the responsible persons of solely owned or partnership enterprises frequently sign lease agreements with building owners in their own names.
The new relaxation makes business registration easier by allowing a copy of a lease signed by the responsible person of a business and by the property owner to be substituted for an agreement signed by the owner, so long as the lease bears the words, “May be used for business registration or operation” to assure that the owner knows that his or her building is to be registered as a business location.
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