Today is the last day to submit the 2004 “individual income tax return of the Republic of China”. It’s my habit to leave many unpleasant things to the last possible moment. The GTD gang call this cringing and set up a how-to on Cringe-Busting your TODO list. I’ve read it but some habits are too hard to break.
Unlike in Canada where reducing your tax expenditures can be a complicated and paid obsession the process here is relatively painless. A simple one page form and you are finished. Seeing as this is Taiwan and their still exists a slight distrust of foreigners living here there are a few questions geared towards tracking your movements.
The remarkable thing about filing here is that the officers in charge of receiving your forms will actually find your mistakes in your form resulting in receiving a larger tax refund. Last year that meant an extra 15,000NT$ which meant a cheap holiday abroad. I can’t imagine anyone in Revenue and Taxation Canada has ever thought of this concept.