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Q: Why would my recruiter say I don’t need any release letter or tax papers?
Not sure how to handle this 
I have read on here many times that you must have a release letter from your current employer, but my recruiter say I don’t need any documents signed before I leave. I have worked in the same location for two years, but through a recruiter in a distant city.
Honestly we have a fairly good relationship and I have few if any complaints. So how do I resolve the issue? Should I contact my local PSB or is there a link to an official publication that I can forward to my recruiter to prove that “yes, in fact I do need a release letter”. To complicate matters I also want proof that I have paid my taxes and the recruiter says I don’t need this either. I have filed my taxes every year while in China, but still would like the official proof I paid them. I only have around 2 weeks before I leave so not a lot of time to travel to a tier one city to locate tax papers. Thanks for any and all help !!!
9 years 44 weeks ago in Visa & Legalities - China
What I have read is that if you have a z-visa and FEC with your current employer you need get the to get the release letter in order to get a new z-visa and FEC with the new the job. My advice would be to get it no matter what the person says. It always better to have more than find out later that you need it and don't have it. Worst case you got the release letter and don't use it. You can always take layers off , but you can't put them on if you don't have them. So I would advise you to just get it.
What I have read is that if you have a z-visa and FEC with your current employer you need get the to get the release letter in order to get a new z-visa and FEC with the new the job. My advice would be to get it no matter what the person says. It always better to have more than find out later that you need it and don't have it. Worst case you got the release letter and don't use it. You can always take layers off , but you can't put them on if you don't have them. So I would advise you to just get it.
You must get Release letter and Cancelation Certificate of FEC from your present employer for extension of RPermit.
Even if you'll apply for new WPermit (and Z), your new employer will ask you for above documents.
Contact your local SAFEA (FEB), who will help you retrieve all necessary documents.
Write 'SAFEA' in search bar for address and contact numbers in your city.
ou812:
I have had a few problems while in China, but one of my first lessons was you shouldn’t skip the chain of command. Making someone look bad is really frowned on here. I have no idea why they would say I don’t need it; all I can think is that it has to do with the tax issue. Can I force my recruiter to forward me official tax documents? My contract says specifically my payment is net of taxes so I see no liability on my part. I am fairly certain that if I piss them off they will mess with my last payments. Do I really need the tax papers???? If so can I get them sent while I am in the states?
But how do I prove to them I need it? The school I work for has had 2 foreign teachers in 10 years, trust me when I say they have no clue what is needed or what it should say. I will go home for maybe a year so I am not looking for a job this year, but I want my transition back to be smooth and easy.
Although I generally trust my recruiter, there are 3 issues that are troubling me.
(1)Why give me what seems to be misinformation about something that appears to be common knowledge (the release letter)?
(2)Is it because I also asked for the tax info and they haven’t paid the taxes and stuck the money in their own pocket? If this is the case how do I resolve it?
(3) They aren’t paying me my last 2 pay checks until two month after I leave China, including my flight reimbursement so that’s about $3,000.00 of leverage they have over me. I have a wife who will be staying here, but she can’t represent me in a legal dispute.
Like I said I generally trust the company, they even send me a dozen roses on my birthday. That being said, this is China and if they are going to “F U” it will be when you are bent over and constrained by time, money, or both. I don’t need the money, but have promised it to my wife so I don’t want to let her down. I am, however, leaving in couple of weeks so they do have time on their side.
Shining_brow:
Roses on birthdays do not equal trust... it equals guanxi! "how can you not trust me, I did nice things for you". Stupid appeals to emotion!! No logic whatsoever!
You're not likely to see your extra money... it's possible, but unlikely. I've been lucky. However, many others on here haven't been. Go with the odds.
2 choices:
1 - do nothing, don't upset people, hide under a rock.
2 - make a lot of noise, get the recruiter and school in trouble for cheating and lying. Stop other foreigners from becoming victims of the same scam... do this by contacting SAFEA and explaining the whole story. Then, contact State Administration for Taxation - explain the whole story.
Are you working legally? (Z visa/FEC/RP). In which case they need to give you the release letter. Sounds to me like you've not been working legally (though they may have told you that!). They've also probably not been paying the tax they've taken from you. I work for a manufacturing company and they've given me the link & password to my personal tax system log-in for the GZ tax bureau...so I can see tax has been paid and print receipts.
They're going to pay your final salary and flight allowance AFTER you leave China? Do you really believe they will pay you? I'd be very careful if I was you....once you are out of China you'll have no way of getting that money back if they don't pay up.
ou812:
No, I am here legally. I have a degree and all that was required of me. I got my Z visa two years ago, before coming and I am on my second Residents permit. Like I said all I can think is that I have requested the tax papers too.
Hotwater:
Sorry if I assumed you were working illegally. It wasn't meant to sound that way.
What I meant was the some recruiters/schools get their foreign teachers the Z visa/FEC/residence permit based on their legally registered school/office (in Beijing for example) and then have them work in a school/training centre in another city/province that is not legally allowed to employ foreigners. I don't know the full details of your situation but this might be the case here. You might have the right papers for working legally in a particular school but the recruiter has you working somewhere else. In which case they wouldn't be able to give you the release letter from that school and there will be no tax records as they won't have paid tax.
You have been lied to... from the very beginning.
You were never completely legal in doing the job you were doing (in the location you were doing it), thus they can't provide a 'real' release letter - hence why they're telling you that you don't need it.
As for tax - sorry, but you haven't paid any. Sure, it's come out of your pay packet, but none of it has ever reached the tax department. Someone's gotten themselves a new car or something out of you. If you go to the local tax administration, they'll have no record of you (or, maybe, that you do exist, but no money has been paid on your behalf). When you insist on getting something for tax, they will try to pass off a 'letter' written by either the school or the agent, with some calculations based on what's been taken out over the last 2 years. When this happens, tell them that it's unacceptable, and your government needs OFFICIAL RECEIPTS AND STATEMENTS from the Chinese State Administration for Taxation. You probably won't get that either....
I also asked for tax information before i returned home.
I said it was necessary for the Tax Office to know exactly what tax i have been paying here.
like you, a couple of weeks before my departure date i emailed my employers stating clearly that i needed:
Reference - in English and Chinese
Release letter
my Cancelation Cert for my FEC
Tax information to make sure i am tax compliant here
I also included information about how i expect to receive my final salary: usually i am paid on the 10th of the month, but i told them i could not be here than because my visa expires on the 5th of July.
what does it say in your contract?
remind them - in the email - what it says about final payment
give them 24 hours to respond before you make the next move
ou812:
Sorrel, Thanks for not insinuating I am an illegal or generally stupid as others have. I harbor no delusions with regard to China or being an ESL teacher. So how did you come out with your request? Did they imply you had no understanding of the requirements? Can someone other than me get the tax records, if so how do I know if they are legitimate records or just fabricated to shut me up? My wife works for the same school so I hate to see her get stuck in the middle. Although if she does, perhaps she will quit saying I am prejudice towards China and its people :-)
sorrel:
I am due to leave next week.
When i went in to collect my pay recently (they pay cash, but there is a receipt system), they wanted to give me the tax details of ALL foreign employees. I said that my local Tax Office at home won't accept that,: they only want my tax information.
In addition i have to bring this with me to present as soon as i start work.
They did not object to any of my requests regarding the other things - it remains to be seen if i get them: ask me again next week
yesterday I reminded them by email that i would be with them next week to collect everything that I requested.
It makes it a bit more awkward for you because they know your wife is still there working for them, and they are using this as an excuse not to pay you.
Maybe make up a story about how you need the money for a fictional family emergency as soon as you arrive in your home country.
I don't have all the answers you are looking for, but regarding the tax info - say, by email, that you need to bring this with you when you return home.
it sounds like they are just pleading ignorance to get out of doing the work involved.
let them know, politely, that you know they are BSing you.
good luck
EDIT: you know me on this forum - I judge people. LOL
Wow...so many complications on working legally..
And stupid ignorant fools say that people work illegally to save tax...
You can go directly to the tax office by yourself, bring your passport and they will use your passport number to give you your tax history, if not you have to go to the PSB and report the school for tax fraud.
ou812:
I don’t understand Chinese income tax system at all; which seems to be the norm even for locals. I don’t know where my taxes are actually paid. Perhaps they are paid in the town where I work or maybe in the city where the agency is located. What’s your understanding? Since this is China I am guessing it depends on which on which city and province you live in. Once thing I am certain of is that no one in China likes to pay taxes. You have to beg to real receipt in China. When I say real I mean one that shows there was a taxable transaction. I don’t like the American system much, but at least it is fairly transparent. Although you don’t likely get a actual pay check you go get a deposit slip and a record of all current and YTD. state, fed. FICA taxes. You ask people what the sales tax here is an they haven’t a clue what you are talking about. Ignorance is bliss and it also helps maintain a harmonious society
ironman510:
I know what you mean, but you'll be better off with those tax recipes.. They might be useful in the future, especially if you're American.
Let's put it through the echo chamber and find out...
Why would my recruiter say I don’t need any release letter or tax papers?
Why would my recruiter say I don’t need
Why would my recruiter say
Why would my recruiter
my recruiter
recruiter
