Before Returning to Taiwan From TSMC Arizona: A Financial Checklist

90-day window

Start while U.S. access still works in your favor

Returning to Taiwan can end your U.S. employment, health coverage and payroll all at once — while quietly changing how banks, brokerages and retirement plans treat you. The most valuable work happens before your U.S. address and mobile number become unreliable.

Build a deadline list that covers final pay, bonus eligibility, benefits, the 401(k), the HSA, insurance, bank and brokerage accounts, lease obligations, moving logistics and any relocation repayment terms. Each can follow a different date.

Update your secure-access methods early and get provider policies on foreign addresses in writing. The checklist below covers the access points that break most often — and once access is safe, the money questions start with retirement accounts.

• 401(k) and IRA access
• Brokerage foreign-address policy
• Banking and credit cards
• Two-factor authentication
• Final W-2 and 1099 delivery
• Beneficiaries and trusted contacts

Retirement accounts

Leaving the country is not a reason to cash out

As a former employee you may be able to keep a qualifying balance in the TSMC plan, roll it to an eligible U.S. account or take a distribution. Each path carries different tax, access and withholding consequences.

IRS guidance says distributions to foreign payees can require withholding unless proper documentation supports a different treatment. Decide the path before the first distribution is requested — and before an address change starts changing the answers.

Departure tax year

A split year runs on records, not memory

Keep your travel dates, employment dates, pay statements, relocation records and account statements. Your U.S. residency, foreign account reporting and Arizona filing status may all turn on those facts.

Here’s how the departure year plays out: a foreign address can change both provider services and retirement-distribution withholding, you may still have U.S. filing obligations after you leave, and you may need maximum Taiwan account values for your final U.S. resident year. Rushing to close accounts can create taxable sales or distributions without solving any of those reporting requirements.

Ask the tax professional which forms, statements and maximum account values they need — before the move, while everything is still easy to pull.

Professional handoff

Give both professionals the same map

Your advisor can organize the accounts, investment policy, cash needs and distribution choices. The tax professional determines reporting, residency and filing positions.

For a TSMC employee, a shared timeline usually works out better than separate conversations held after deadlines pass. That timeline is the plan below.

The countdown

Your 90-day departure plan, in order

Create the departure calendar, download the records, update secure authentication and collect written provider policies. Make account changes only after your final U.S. tax status, your Taiwan arrival plan and each professional’s responsibilities are clear.

Use it as preparation, not as individualized advice — your current TSMC Arizona documents control your benefits and payout terms, and cross-border filing decisions belong with a qualified tax professional.

• Create a 90-day benefits and payment calendar
• Preserve your W-2, 1099, payroll and travel records
• Confirm 401(k), HSA, bank and brokerage foreign-address policies
• Update beneficiaries and trusted contacts
• Schedule coordinated U.S. and Taiwan tax reviews