Newsletter
TRAVEL RESTRICTION NOT APPLICABLE TO INSOLVENCY ADMINISTRATORS
According to a number of interpretations issued by the Ministry of Finance, an attorney or CPA who is (i) appointed by the court or a shareholders' meeting as the liquidator of a company, or (ii) appointed by the court as the administrator of the reorganization of a company, is in fact performing duties on behalf of the state and hence considered a public servant for acting as a liquidator or administrator. Accordingly, the tax collection authorities should not restrict such a liquidator or administrator from exiting Taiwan. This ruling also applies to those administrators whom the court appoints to administrate bankruptcy procedure as the court, in general, appoints attorneys or CPAs as such administrators, as confirmed in a supplementary interpretation issued by the Ministry of Finance on 10 July 2008.
In additions, in a case where the tax collection authorities have imposed a restriction prohibiting officers of a company from exiting Taiwan during the bankruptcy procedure, such restriction should be lifted unless any officer or the company is found, upon the completion of such bankruptcy procedure, owe to at least NT$1 million in individual income tax or at least NT$2 million in corporate income tax respectively (Article 24 of the Tax Collection Act, as came into effect on 15 August 2008).
Accordingly, the tax collection authorities are reviewing all the cases in which insolvency administrators or company officers are prohibited from exiting Taiwan, and will lift such restriction on insolvency administrators or in cases where the amount of outstanding income tax payable by an officer or the company is below NT$1 million or NT$2 million respectively.