My school doesn't deduct taxes from my salary - is that ok?

[HockeyTaiwan]

I got my statements back from that old school BUT the numbers really don't add up. it says they deducted half of what i actually made and under withholding tax there is a big fat ZERO.

What should I do? I have all my pay stubs for that time and they all say how much tax was deducted. Should I try to get the school to get me the money or should I take my statements and old pay stubs to the tax office and tell them the story?

I kinda want my money back but I'm not sure what's going to happen if I take Road A as opposed to Road B.

[citizen k]

Can you ask them (the employer) why the statement is different from your stubs and what they think will happen when you go to the tax office and show the agents both? They woulld probably want to correct the statement asap if they knew this is what you plan to do.

[HockeyTaiwan]

this is what they sent me:

Kelly,
That all we can find. Maybe you can go to tax office to check paying the tax or not.
The school is not sure the detail about your tax stuff. It was long time ago. After you go to the tax office. If you still have question, please email to me. I check my email everyday.
Beryl

weird....

[spaint]

It sounds like more bullshit from a school trying to screw an employee. They are supposed to keep old tax documentation for seven years the same as the rest of us.

If the numbers (for "tax deducted") on your pay slip are more than the amount of money you paid to the tax office (according to their computer), it means the company kept some of your "tax" for itself. For the sake of a numerical example, say you made $100,000 and the tax rate was 10%, then the school should have kept $10,000 back and given all of it to the tax office. However, if the school took $10,000 from you and then told the tax office you only earned $50,000 and gave the taxman $5000, then they scammed you and the taxman out of the other $5000.

When you report this to the tax office, you'll end up being liable for the additional $5000 unless you don't show them your pay slips and just go by what your school originally reported to the tax office. How much tax you've paid and how much the taxman thinks you've earned could end up being extremely important should you decide to apply for an APRC.

If you take the route of paying the "additional $5000" I think you ought to collect all your pay slips and tax returns and head over to the Council for Labor Affairs. I'm pretty sure they take a dim view of companies who under-report employees' taxes.

[HockeyTaiwan]

So lets say they report half of my earnings for that year to the government and report I paid nothing in tax. Would that mean they stole all of that money? And if I go to the tax office and explain that to them as well as show them my pay slips to prove, will I have to pay all that tax myself?

[spaint]

So lets say they report half of my earnings for that year to the government and report I paid nothing in tax. Would that mean they stole all of that money? And if I go to the tax office and explain that to them as well as show them my pay slips to prove, will I have to pay all that tax myself?

So to the government, they reported your earnings at 50% and gave the government nothing (because you were under the limit of mandatory taxation?), while to you they issued you with receipts for 100% income minus "tax". Right?

Others will have better advice grounded in legal knowledge but I think you should take your payslips to the CLA first, then sort out your taxes later because it sounds to me like the company has defrauded YOU rather than the government.

EDIT: Oops under-declaring your income is actually defrauding the government as well...

[HockeyTaiwan]

well actually what happened was they deducted 3000nt a month and sometimes 6000 per month in that year. even in that 20% timeframe from the year previous, they still deducted only 3000nt when they should've deducted like 10,000.

The number go like this approx:

Their numbers:
earned income: 280,000+ withholding tax:0

My pay stubs:
480,000+ tax deducted: 40,000+

[spaint]

well actually what happened was they deducted 3000nt a month and sometimes 6000 per month in that year. even in that 20% timeframe from the year previous, they still deducted only 3000nt when they should've deducted like 10,000.

The number go like this approx:

Their numbers:
earned income: 280,000+ withholding tax:0

My pay stubs:
480,000+ tax deducted: 40,000+

You should go to the CLA with all your paperwork. The school has defrauded you and the government and claims ignorance when the documentation should be present in their files.

Where's Feiren when you need him?

[bababa]

Their numbers:
earned income: 280,000+ withholding tax:0

My pay stubs:
480,000+ tax deducted: 40,000+

The school owes you 40,000; but then when you go to pay your taxes you will have to part with some of this. Still, if they had actually given the gov't the 40,000, you would have gotten a refund and wouldn't be fined for paying late.
Maybe go to the school, show them all this, and demand they either give you the 40,000, or give you an amended tax withholding statement with the corret figures (which means they will have to send the money in).
If no results, go to CLA with all this info.

[spaint]

Maybe go to the school, show them all this, and demand they either give you the 40,000, or give you an amended tax withholding statement with the correct figures (which means they will have to send the money in).

You should only do this if it doesn't bother you to have under-reported your income for that year. If you are planning on applying for an APRC in the near future you need to have earned more than what your school reported.