Taiwan business registration can be done with the help of various consultant groups and agencies which can help with its licensing, banking solutions and workspace rental solutions as well. There are several business structures available in the country: Unlimited Company (UC), Unlimited Company with limited liability shareholders, Limited Partnership (LP), tax resident Limited Liability Company (LLC) or company limited by shares, free zone LLC, Public Limited Company (PLC), representative office and branch office. Best use of a tax resident LLC is for selling all products and services, free zone LLC is best for manufacturing and export trading, PLC's best purpose is to secure public funding, representative office is good when it comes to marketing and research and branch office performs best within the framework of carrying out specific projects.

In general, there are some basic steps which are to be taken when incorporating a company in Taiwan. Pre-incorporation includes the agreement to be made on proposed company name, directors and shareholders details, and initial share capital amount and license requirements.

LLC incorporation
LLC is the most common company structure in Taiwan. Limited Company generally is a company organized by one or more shareholders. Each shareholder in such business structure is liable for the company in an amount limited to the amount contributed by him.

Its incorporation process requires such action as company's name reservation (whch can be done with the help of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MODEA)), tax registration (with the Taiwan Taxation Bureau by attending a tax interview), investment approval, license application processing and bank account opening. Thus, Taiwan's company incorporation procedure includes document preparation (by submitting the articles of incorporation), foreign investment approval, capital account opening (together with depositing share capital of the company) and capital remittance approval (by submitting a proof of capital remittance approval) . Taiwanese banks require a personal meeting in order to complete account opening procedure. The whole incorporation process usually takes between 2 to 3 weeks.

LLC directors & shareholders, documents required
There are no opportunities to own a LLC in Taiwan as a sole shareholder because the company must have other shareholders in order to be properly established. Such shareholders can be nominees or shareholders (de facto). However, corporate shareholders are allowed. The LLC must be registered with 1 shareholder and 1 director who both can be non-resident foreigners. There is no requirement for a local shareholder. Individual shareholders are allowed all of whom must register themselves in public register of shareholders and directors. The minimum requirement regarding LLC's directors is to have only one director. However, corporate directors are permitted. Taiwan's legislation system requires companies to hold an annual meeting of shareholders.

There is a legal requirement in Taiwan concerning Articles of Incorporation which states that shareholders who do not conduct business may require shareholders who conduct business to furnish information on the business condition of the company and examine its assets, documents, books and statement. Basic documents required for submission by shareholders are their corporate documents, passport copies at the nearest Taiwan Economic and Culture office, foreign investor qualification declaration, POA document. Shareholders may contribute their capital in the form of goodwill, service or other rights, provided that certain provisions in Taiwan Law are fulfilled.

LLC share capital, documents required
LLC share capital must be deposited with a certificate of deposit issued by the bank. LLC share capital registration requires specific documents to be notarized and legalized. The legalized documents should be submitted to the Investment Commission MOEA or MOEAIC. Additionally, company's employees must have visas (including work permits which usually take about 3 months to register) and licenses (if job specifics require them).

The common minimum paid up share capital is 3,300 US dollars. However, the minimal capitalization amount is 0, meaning that there is no requirement for any minimum share capital. The VAT payable on sales to local customers is 5%. The corporate tax rate on annual net profits in Taiwan is 17%. There are some government grants available as well. Average total business setup engagement costs are 14,040 US dollars in an average total engagement period of 2.5 months.

Legal address for Taiwanese LLC
When officially purchasing workspace or office premises in Taiwan, there is a requirement of a registered agent, meaning that the company will have to pay a fee on a yearly basis, for an address which can receive any official legal correspondence on behalf of the business. There is also another requirement stating that there must be a lease agreement signed before company registration. Another requirement is that one half of the shareholders who are conducting the business in Taiwan must have domiciles within the territory of the Republic of China.

Basic bookkeeping requirements
There are some basic requirements for Taiwan's company formation. First of all, all the documents which are written not in Chinese must be translated. For example, an office lease agreement must be signed because a foreign-owned company in Taiwan must rent premises in order to gain investment approval. There are also such options as a virtual office which can be used while searching for the right premises and location of a company.