The Taipei National Tax Administration, Ministry of Finance indicated that when an alien taxpayer and his/her spouse are not able to jointly file their tax returns due to separation of marriage, they may file their tax returns separately; however, he/she must fill in his/her spouse’s name, identification card number or ARC number and remark the wording such as “in separation” on the return for the purposes of joint assessment by tax authorities.
The TNTA explained that a married couple but in separation may apply to compute their respective portion of the total tax amount. The joint tax payable is proportionally allocated to the husband and the wife on the basis of their respective tax payable. Their respective tax amount shall be the apportioned tax payable after deduction of their respective withholding tax, tax credit and tax paid and a respective tax bill will be issued to each of them.
The TNTA further explained that if a couple separately files their tax returns without stating their spousal relationship, such couple will be subject to an additional tax due and penalties according to paragraph 1, Article 110 of the Income Tax Act.
The TNTA call on the foreign taxpayers to pay attention to the relevant provisions with regard to tax filing so as not to affect their rights.