Tax authorities reminded taxpayers to include overseas income in their personal basic income declaration and pay any due minimum tax.
The Taipei National Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance in Taiwan stated, on 13 November 2025, that when taxpayers file their individual income tax returns, if the total amount of non-Republic of China (ROC) source income and income from Hong Kong or Macau (hereinafter referred to as “overseas income”) for the same filing household reaches TWD 1,000,000 in a year, and the individual’s total basic income exceeds TWD 7,500,000, they must declare and pay the minimum tax in accordance with the Income Basic Tax Act.
The Bureau explained that overseas income is not included in the income data provided by the tax authorities. Taxpayers who earn overseas income—such as remuneration for services provided abroad while employed by a foreign company, income from investing in foreign financial products (e.g., funds, bonds, and stocks) through domestic financial institutions or trust companies, or gains from disposing of overseas assets (such as interest, dividends, capital gains, or property transaction income from overseas investments)—must declare their personal basic income and calculate the minimum tax themselves, in accordance with the Income Basic Tax Act.
The Bureau provided an example: Mr. A had completed his 2023 individual income tax filing. Later, the Bureau discovered that Mr. A had failed to declare overseas business and interest income totalling TWD 11,080,000 for himself and his spouse. Mr. A argued that he had always filed based on the income data provided by the tax authorities. However, overseas income is not included in the income data available to the authorities, and taxpayers are required to include overseas income in their personal basic income declaration. In this case, the Bureau not only assessed additional minimum tax of over TWD 1,110,000 but also imposed penalties in accordance with Article 15, Paragraph 2 of the Income Basic Tax Act.
The Bureau reminded taxpayers that if they have overseas income and fail to declare it despite meeting the reporting thresholds, under Article 48-1 of the Tax Collection Act, cases that have not been reported, investigated by the tax authorities, or designated investigators of the Ministry of Finance can be voluntarily corrected at the taxpayer’s local tax office. By filing an amended return and paying the additional tax with interest, penalties can be waived.
