| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Running a foreign company from the UK Thread poster: Mark Weatherall
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Dan Lucas 
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:29
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Then again... | Dec 30, 2022 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
True. You may be able to avoid this by making sure the Taiwanese company is not your only or main client.
Agreed, though that might be hard to achieve. For example, I still have no regular clients in the UK in JA-EN. The locus of financial translation is Tokyo, and that is that.
Of course, if HMRC can "look through" far enough, the substance is that the Taiwanese company (which is in any case owned by the freelancer!) has multiple clients, so at a different level of abstraction it isn't a problem. The question is whether HMRC will or can accept this amount of complexity.
Ultimately, the problem is the legislative or regulatory requirement (?) in Taiwan to produce an invoice from a Taiwanese supplier and, however well-intentioned, it sounds like a considerable burden.
What do others do? Does every translator of traditional Chinese outside Taiwan need jump through these hoops - what about those living in HK or mainland China? If it is a common problem, one would think that a standard approach would have been established...
Dan
| | | | Mark Weatherall
Taiwan
Local time: 04:29
Member (2013)
Chinese to English
TOPIC STARTER | Taiwan fapiao | Dec 31, 2022 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
True. You may be able to avoid this by making sure the Taiwanese company is not your only or main client.
Agreed, though that might be hard to achieve. For example, I still have no regular clients in the UK in JA-EN. The locus of financial translation is Tokyo, and that is that.
This shouldn’t be an issue (at least for now). When we set up the company, the aim was to have all of the business from Taiwanese academics and then eventually start outsourcing some of the work. However, finding and retaining direct clients is hard work, so I still have to supplement with work from foreign agencies. At the moment, I guess the ratio is about 30% direct clients from Taiwan/70% foreign agencies.
Ultimately, the problem is the legislative or regulatory requirement (?) in Taiwan to produce an invoice from a Taiwanese supplier and, however well-intentioned, it sounds like a considerable burden.
What do others do? Does every translator of traditional Chinese outside Taiwan need jump through these hoops - what about those living in HK or mainland China? If it is a common problem, one would think that a standard approach would have been established…
HK and mainland China have different systems, so I’m not sure how it works there. Taiwan has standard VAT invoices (called fapiao). If you are VAT registered (all limited liability companies and also “business entities” over a certain turnover or who voluntarily register), you have to issue a fapiao when you make a sale (both B2B and B2C). These fapiao are then submitted to the tax office every two months when you do your VAT returns. So it works very much like the UK system, except that the format of the VAT invoices is standardized. For B2C, there’s also a bimonthly lottery based on the serial numbers on the fapiao to encourage consumers to ask for a fapiao when they make a purchase, thereby reducing tax evasion.
Freelance translators can still work for translation agencies without being VAT registered-the translation agency issues the fapiao to the end consumer. The problem is that if the translator is not resident in Taiwan and not a Taiwanese citizen, they need to withhold 18% tax. I guess this might be why the translation business (like much of the country’s service sector, unlike its famous chips!) is still very underdeveloped in Taiwan, although in practice, many agencies get around this by paying off the books or through companies located overseas.
You can also set up a “business entity” and work for direct clients without being registered for VAT as long as your turnover is under the threshold. The problem is that B2B clients will almost always demand fapiao because they want to write off the VAT and there are strict limits to claiming business expenses without fapiao. In my case, university research funds will only accept fapiao for reimbursement, so the professors can only work with Taiwanese companies or foreign companies that have set up a branch in Taiwan.
[Edited at 2022-12-31 02:35 GMT]
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:29
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| It's the hardware over software mindset | Dec 31, 2022 |
Mark Weatherall wrote:
I guess this might be why the translation business (like much of the country’s service sector, unlike its famous chips!) is still very underdeveloped in Taiwan
Interesting summary of the industry Mark, thanks for that. I am (or was) better informed on the chips and other components, having visited dozens of companies in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, and even Kaohsiung back in the day.
Spent many a night in the Far Eastern Plaza writing up my notes, occasionally with a drink to treat stress caused by use of local taxis. One trip started way out of town and I don't think the driver was familiar with the city centre, because he went the wrong way round that big roundabout near the Far Eastern (Renai Dunnan, maybe) on a red light. My life flashed in front of my eyes, briefly.
Anyway, good luck.
Dan
| | | | Mark Weatherall
Taiwan
Local time: 04:29
Member (2013)
Chinese to English
TOPIC STARTER | Taiwan’s traffic ... | Jan 1, 2023 |
Dan Lucas wrote:
Mark Weatherall wrote:
I guess this might be why the translation business (like much of the country’s service sector, unlike its famous chips!) is still very underdeveloped in Taiwan
Interesting summary of the industry Mark, thanks for that. I am (or was) better informed on the chips and other components, having visited dozens of companies in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, and even Kaohsiung back in the day.
Spent many a night in the Far Eastern Plaza writing up my notes, occasionally with a drink to treat stress caused by use of local taxis. One trip started way out of town and I don’t think the driver was familiar with the city centre, because he went the wrong way round that big roundabout near the Far Eastern (Renai Dunnan, maybe) on a red light. My life flashed in front of my eyes, briefly.
Anyway, good luck.
Dan
Taiwan’s traffic hasn’t got much better over the years!
I appreciate the helpful advice from colleagues about setting up our business in the UK. I will definitely hire an accountant when we make the move to get professional advice on the best set up for our business.
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