On 2 September 2022, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) of Taiwan issued a press release to provide an exemption for a Foreign Institutional Investor (FINI) in case of physical withholding tax (WHT) statements when applying for the reduced tax rate in accordance with an income tax agreement has been greatly simplified. The exemption is provided in response to the policy of digitalization of the tax administration. This deregulation is also in line with the trend to reduce paper consumption and be more environmentally friendly.

In order to provide more diverse filing methods for taxpayers and streamline the services provided to the public, the National Taxation Bureaus have opened up the online function for filing the withholding tax statement associated with a non-resident taxpayer’s case since 2017. The MOF adds that although the submission of the withholding tax statement may be lifted from the above-mentioned FINI’s application case, if a photocopy of the withholding tax statement is in addition provided with the FINI application case, it may expedite the process for taking, matching with the system and reviewing operation of the case that is carried out by the handling National Taxation Bureaus and to shorten the time spent to complete these processes.

The MOF states that to build up a tax administration environment in favour of developing Taiwan’s capital and securities market, the MOF and its subordinate National Taxation Bureaus will remain open to feedback from various sectors, while balancing the need to streamline public services and aligning relevant measures with those proposed by the international anti-base erosion and profit shifting actions. In this regard, the benefits provided by an income tax agreement may be optimized.