Summary

Taiwan has a limited social insurance scheme which is focused on Pensions, Health, Unemployment and Industrial injury.

Details

Contributions

The compulsory social security programs in Taiwan are the Labour Insurance Program (LIP), National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), Labour Pension Program (LPP) and the Employment Insurance scheme (EI). From 2026 foreign nationals are obliged to participate in the Labor Pension System established by the Labor Pension Act.

Contributions to the different schemes are capped. Employer contributions to LIP and NHIP are 8.05% and 3.102% of capped income, and employee contributions are 2.3% and 1.55% respectively. The income cap for LIP is 48,500 NTD ($1,500) per month, and for NHIP is 313,000 NTD ($9,770) per month. Employers pay a 2.11% supplementary premium if total monthly taxable income exceeds the NHI cap.

Employers must contribute at least 6% of an employee's monthly salary to the DC pension established by the Labor Pension Act.

Treaties

Taiwan has no reciprocal social security agreements with other counties. Most inbound expatriates are therefore liable to LIP and NHIP contributions, and potentially home country contributions too.

Exemptions

Income paid to a non-Taiwanese national and borne by an offshore company is, if the stay in Taiwan is for less than 90 days in a tax year, not subject to Taiwanese contributions. Short term assignees and business visitors, and their employers, are therefore generally exempt from contributions.

Because of the historically low cost of Taiwanese social security, there is not yet a strong trend of assignment planning to reduce contributions. However, as pension contributions are now payable by non-Taiwanese, this may change over time. Localization may have the effect of reducing the overall social security costs due to the cessation of home country contributions, particularly for those from the UK and the US.

Administration

Contributions to all the elements of social security are dealt with through payroll and all payments are made to the Bureau of Labor Insurance within the Ministry of Labor. Contributions to the different elements of social security are due on different days of the month.

Benefits

Individuals who sustain an illness or injury while working are covered by Labor Insurance. During the first two years of medical treatment the cover provides first 70 percent, then 50 percent of a worker's employees insured wage, which is not the same as their full wage. The NHI scheme pays a significant portion of the costs of medical care and medicines; it does not provide total cover for medical expenses.

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