The National Taxation Bureau of Taipei, Ministry of Finance states that the public are encouraged to use Citizen Digital Certificates, financial certificates approved by the Ministry of Finance, or registered NHI cards to download the income information through the e-Filing and Tax Payment software or inquire the income information over the counter at the National Taxation Bureau, and file the individual income tax return via the Internet to protect their own rights and interests.
The Bureau states that in order to comply with the electronization policy, it continues to promote taxpayers’ use of the Internet to file individual income tax return. In accordance with the Punishment Mitigation and Remittance Guidelines for Tax Violation, in case taxpayers inquire income and deduction information of the tax year from the taxation authority, and use the Internet to file the tax return during the statutory filing period accordingly, if in the future the National Taxation Bureau investigates and assesses that there is understated or omitted income information that the taxing authority should provide but fails to provide and there is no intentional tax evasion, the taxpayers can pay tax deficiencies without penalty. However, if taxpayers file tax return manually, even if the inquired income information of the tax year does not contain the said income, the taxpayers will still receive penalty for any omitted income.
For example, both individuals A and B applied for retirement from Company Alpha and received pension in 2018, but Company Alpha failed to issue the Withholding & Non-Withholding Tax Statements for the portions of their personal taxable pensions exceeding the fixe exemption and report them to the taxing authority with jurisdiction prior to the end of January 2019, due to the negligence of the accounting personnel. The Company only reported the filing in 2020 after the investigation by the Bureau. When individuals A and B went to the National Taxation Bureau to inquire the 2018 income and deduction information in May 2019, the inquired income did not contain the pension income. Both A and B mistakenly considered the pension income as tax-exempt income without further inquiring with Company Alpha, resulting in omitted income on their tax returns. Individual A used e-filing via internet with the inquired income information and the information of the omitted pension income is the income information that the taxing authority should provide but fails to provide, meeting the provisions on remittance from punishment of the Punishment Mitigation and Remittance Guidelines for Tax Violation. Thus, Individual A is remitted from punishment. However, Individual B filed tax return manually. Even though the inquired 2018 income information list did not contain the said income, Individual B still would receive penalty after it is discovered by the taxing authority for failing to meet the requirements on remittance from punishment of the Punishment Mitigation and Remittance Guidelines for Tax Violation.
The Bureau emphases that the pension income has a fixed tax exemption, with the pension income received in excess of the fixed tax exemption still being taxable. Income earners are urged to check whether the pension received exceeds the fixed tax exemption amount. If there is a failure to file tax return on the extent of the pension exceeding the fixed tax exemption and e-filing is used according to the income information inquired from the National Taxation Bureau or downloaded via certificates, the taxpayer can pay the tax deficiencies without penalty. Given the filing of tax return is via other methods, if a supplementary filing of returns is made and the tax deficiencies are paid with interest before it is investigated by the taxing authority or flagged by a whistleblower complaint, the taxpayer can be remitted from punishment.
(Contact person: Section Head Lin of the Second Legal Affairs Division; Tel. 2311-3711 ext. 1911)
