Ch.2- How International Entrepreneurs Establish Companies in Taiwan

Previous Chapter: Ch.1- Three major ways setting foots in Taiwan market

Have you clearly figured out these questions before setting up a copmany

First thing first, for most startups are lack of funds in their early stages, foreign entrepreneurs are mostly concerned whether establishing a company requires minimum capital. Fortunately, we didn’t. However, Minimum capital requirement means the total amount that shareholders invest in. Hence, it should not be too low to sustain a company. From our experience, setting the amount above 100,000 NTD is reasonable. Also, before transmitting any money to Taiwan, foreign investors need to pay attention to its currency. For this part, please refer to the point No. 4.
Apart from that, each startup team needs to look for a registered address. You can either rent a physical office or make monthly payments for simply renting the address, which costs you 1,000 – 3,000 NTD. For the former, your team may be able to settle down pretty soon; for the latter, you may save the money but it’s still urging to locate a place to run as an office room. It all depends on your situations.

Come up with a catchy company name!

A company name determines the first impression. As a result, it’s emotionally and physically crucial that you come up with a catchy company name. Nonetheless, it not only accounts for your brand image, but plays a pivotal role in company registration. In Taiwan, you need to establish your company with a Chinese name so you can brainstorm 3-5 names for accounting firm to conduct pre-inquiry. Meanwhile, it’s highly recommended that you prepare the corporate seals, one for pre-inquiry of Company Name while the other for the responsible person for the corporation.

the huge difference between foreigners and citizens

If there are foreign investors on your team, it’s essential that you clarify your shareholding structure while entrusting accounting firms to register a company. Under this circumstance, both your service items and capital resources shall be reviewed, while regulations for sources of fund are especially specific. By and large, if foreign investors’ capital is in New Taiwan Dollar, they need to provide investment certificates. Generally speaking, if the investors have been working in Taiwan for a while, offering the withholding certificate from the last year is applicable. If not, they can opt for making international money transfer but run the risk of being influenced by the exchange rates. Also, you may as well do some research and see whether there’s any regulation against money transfer in your homeland. Take Vietnam for example. Investment certificate is only available for juridical person but not for natural person.

● The Investment Commission Ministry of Economic Affairs
You must prepare the following documents for application: application form of investment, personal identification, certificate of diploma and the form of pre-inquiry of company. Details and operating procedures could be seen on the official site. Before you go on applying, you should take the time into consideration in case the procedure of establishing companies would be delayed for 4-6 weeks!

● Capital verification and approval and account opening are not neligible
Foreign people must bring corporate seals and record of ID NO. in the Republic of China to open the provisional office account. After your application is verified, you can choose to transfer money from the banks which also branch out in your homeland. You need to be ruthless when it comes to shareholders list since it should be consistent with investors who transfer the money. Besides, as mentioned above, you cannot change the currency out of the blue. For instance, if you decide to transfer foreign exchange, shareholders need to transfer the money from their homeland and they’re not allowed to change it back to Taiwan Dollar either. Therefore, a clear communication with your banks is demanded. It’d be safer by transferring higher amount than your minimum capital.

What’s more, if you’ve made up your mind to transfer money overseas, it’s recommended that you set up an English account as well, in case you need to fix anything in the future. After the capital is transferred to your account, bring along your application for verification of investment amount, remittance notification and bankbook to verify your investment. It’s also available to entrust an accounting firm for giving a helping hand, which saves your time.

  Next Chapter: Ch.3- How can a startup company manage its finances effectively?