What is the legal basis of enacting tax incentives for foreign special professionals? When were they put into practice? And what do they include?

1. The tax incentives regulated in the “Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals” (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) came into force on February 8, 2018. A qualified foreign special professional can apply for this tax relief from 2018. In order to strengthen the incentives for recruiting foreign special professionals, full text of the Act was amended and promulgated on July 7, 2021, and the Act was executed on October 25, 2021 by the Executive Yuan. Among the amendments include the extension of the applicable period of tax incentives from 3 years to 5 years as specified in Article 20 (formerly Article 9).
2. From 2018, if a foreigner engages in professional work and meets certain requirements, then within 5 years starting from the tax year in which the foreign special professional for the first time meets the conditions of residing in the R.O.C. for 183 days or more, and having a salary income of more than NT$3,000,000, only the NT$3,000,000 salary income and half of the amount above the NT$3,000,000 in each such tax year shall be included in the gross income for the assessment of individual income tax liability. If the foreigner obtains overseas income set forth in the provisions of Subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1, Article 12 of the Income Basic Tax Act in such tax year, such income shall be excluded from the basic income.
3. A foreign special professional who applied for the tax incentives of the Act before July 7, 2021 may apply for the tax benefits for a period of 5 years. For example, if he/she applied for the tax incentives from 2018 to 2020 and meets the regulations in the years of 2021 and 2022, he/she can also apply for the tax incentives.