TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Progress on a Taiwan-U.S. double tax avoidance deal is being made, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO)-Chicago Director Dennis Yen-Feng Lei (類延峰) said earlier this month.
Lei said on Jan. 9 that such an agreement would provide incentives for Taiwanese businesses to invest in the U.S., per a TECO press release. The House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee approved the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 40-3 on Friday (Jan 19), which included a Taiwan-U.S. double tax avoidance proposal.
Lei said he looks forward to the signing of a bilateral trade agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade to strengthen Taiwan's economic security and Taiwan-U.S. economic and trade relations. The representative said bilateral trade reached approximately US$136 billion (NT$ 4.25 trillion) in 2022, a 19% increase compared to the previous year.
Taiwan is the U.S.’ ninth-largest trading partner and the 8th-largest source of U.S. imports, Lei said. Taiwan's investment in the U.S. amounted to nearly US$1.1 billion in 2022, accounting for 11% of outward investment.
If signed into law, the tax avoidance bill would cut withholding taxes on qualified Taiwanese doing business in the U.S. It would also “strengthen America’s competitive position with China by removing the current double taxation that exists for businesses and workers with a footprint in both the United States and Taiwan,” according to the U.S Senate Committee on Finance.