Tax Day #2 |第二納稅日

June 1, 2025

For Tax Day #1 please click here.

Today is the second and final installment of “Miriam pays her 2024 taxes.” This time, I bring you the Taiwanese tax system which, frankly, blew me away.

On Wednesday, I went to pay my taxes. I’ve been dreading this act for months; since I was in Taiwan for less than 6 months in 2024, I was subject to a flat tax rate of 18% with no deductions, meaning my taxable income was my full salary. Since I received four paychecks in 2024, the expected to owe (and ultimately paid) was just shy of a full month’s salary. My bank account is a little bit sad. I really should figure out how to get my taxes deducted from my paycheck, but I haven’t gotten that far. That’s not the point.

The point is: the process of managing my taxes was so painless that I am almost not even mad about how much damn money I had to pay. Almost. From leaving my house to handing over the money, the process took one hour. One hour. As you may recall, completing the paper tax forms and mailing them to the IRS for my American taxes took 4-6 hours, including the time spent on researching, and ultimately opting against tax software.

After walking 10 minutes to the Da’an Branch of the National Taxation Bureau of Taipei, Ministry of Finance（財政部台北國稅局，大安分局, in case you were wondering), I grabbed a ticket and was directed to a counter where an attendant took my residence card and scanned it. I was prepared with my salary statements, passport, and other ID, but didn’t need them! After a minute, the attendant printed out a document with all my information on it: how many days I’d stayed in Taiwan, my gross Taiwan earnings in 2024, my interest earned in 2024 (I didn’t even know I earned interest in Taiwan), and my personal info (address, birthday, etc.). Then, I went to a different counter, handed over my document, and was given another set of documents that had the exact calculation of my taxes owed. A table listed out my income and the relevant tax rates; there was also a section listing every possible deduction, which, unfortunately, I did not qualify for.

On my way to pay up

My number

Evelyn joined me!

Tax bureau!

Said documents

After checking everything over and clarifying one question, I said, “ok, looks good,” and the attendant printed out another document and said “take this to any bank and pay your taxes.” And that was it! I walked out of the tax bureau to a nearby bank and forked over nearly a month’s salary. Hooray.

Post-taxes bagels at Frankie Feels Good, a new favorite spot and some of the best bagels in Taipei

But seriously, besides the actual money part, I had a great experience. The vibes in the tax office were surprisingly…merry? Everyone was very friendly; there were lots of volunteers directing people where to go, and the wait was very short.

I have to qualify this entire article and say that I know some people who’ve had really bad experiences doing their taxes in Taiwan. Regardless, I think Taiwan is on to something with their tax system; it’s not overly complicated, the government leverages all of the financial and salary data to easily and simply calculate taxes owed, and, most importantly, it’s free to file! People at the tax office will help you with the paperwork! Of course, people with more complicated finances will hire accountants, but average people can pay their taxes pretty easily.

I wonder if Taiwan is able to streamline this process due to the fact that their population is only about 23 million people (smaller than the city of Shanghai). I’m curious to know if the IRS has the data available to change the American tax system to be more like Taiwan (I think they could if the tax preparation industry lobby weren’t so strong). If I have to pay the government, they should tell me how much I owe them!

When the time comes to pay my 2025 taxes (either when I leave Taiwan or in May 2026), I won’t have to pay as much. I’ll be in Taiwan this year for over 6 months, so I’ll be eligible for deductions and taxed at a lower rate which is sweet!

Taxed by the higher, but less taxing taxes,

-Miriam