China → Taiwan clearance guide
Overview
- · De minimis: a consignment with a dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less is free of duty, business tax and commodity tax. More than six such exempt releases by the same taxpayer in a half-year makes them a frequent importer, and the exemption stops.
- · Business tax is 5%, collected by customs. A trade promotion service fee of 0.04% also applies, plus commodity tax on listed categories and tobacco and alcohol tax.
- · Using a customs broker is not mandatory; the taxpayer may file directly, but the declaration still goes through the Single Window electronically.
- · Express consignments are graded by dutiable value: X1 (documents), X2 (NT$2,000 or less, exempt), X3 (NT$2,001 to 50,000, dutiable) and X4 (over NT$50,000, which requires a full import declaration).
- · Before importing from mainland China, check whether the import regulation column of the commodity classification table shows MW0 or MP1.
Procedure
China export side
An exporter must first complete customs registration as a consignee or consignor of imported and exported goods through the China International Trade Single Window. The separate foreign trade operator registration was abolished with the 2022 amendment to the Foreign Trade Law and has not been required since 2022-12-30. The export goods declaration may be filed by the consignor directly or by an entrusted registered customs broker.
Most goods leave without export duty. Only the limited list set out in the Import and Export Tariff carries an export duty or a provisional export rate. For VAT purposes exports are zero-rated or exempt, and a qualifying exporter can claim the export VAT refund at the rate published for the commodity code.
Export controls rest on the Export Control Law and the regulation on the export control of dual-use items. Items on a control list need a dual-use item and technology export licence, and a catalogue of goods subject to export licensing is published each year. The regulatory conditions attached to the commodity code are the entry point for deciding whether a licence, inspection or quarantine applies.
Goods on the statutory inspection catalogue must undergo customs inspection and quarantine before export. Where the buyer wants a preferential rate at destination, customs or the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) issues the corresponding certificate of origin, for example under RCEP or the Korea-China FTA, or an ECFA certificate of origin for early harvest goods going to Taiwan.
Taiwan import side
Imports into Taiwan are cleared by the Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance. The import declaration is transmitted electronically through the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window. The taxpayer, that is the importer, may file directly, or appoint a licensed customs broker; in practice most importers use a broker.
Duty is assessed on the CIF dutiable value under the Customs Import Tariff of the Republic of China. The tariff has three columns: column 1 for countries and areas with an agreement or granted preference, column 2 for WTO members and reciprocating countries, which covers most imports, and column 3 for the rest. Customs also collects business tax at 5%, calculated as (dutiable value + import duty + commodity tax or tobacco and alcohol tax + tobacco health and welfare surcharge) x 5%, under Article 41 of the Value-Added and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Act.
On de minimis, goods in one consignment with a dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less are exempt from duty and from the business tax and commodity tax that customs collects. However, a taxpayer who exceeds six such exempt releases within a half-year period, January to June or July to December, is treated as a frequent importer and loses the exemption. Tobacco, alcohol and tariff-quota agricultural products are excluded from the exemption in any case.
Goods of mainland Chinese origin carry special rules. If the import regulation column of the commodity classification table shows MW0 or MP1, the goods are respectively not permitted or permitted subject to conditions; if neither code appears, the mainland goods are permitted. The list is maintained by the International Trade Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Separately, goods on the inspection list must be presented to the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), and food and cosmetics must satisfy the border inspection and product listing rules of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA).
Priority categories on this lane
Pick an HS code
Other lanes
Sources: Ministry of Finance: frequent importers and the low-value exemption · Customs Administration: how customs collects business tax on imported goods · Customs Administration: taxes and fees payable on imported goods · Customs Administration: which mainland Chinese goods are permitted · Taipei Customs: notes on simplified declaration for imported express consignments · Ministry of Finance regulations database: rules for simplified clearance of air express consignments · International Trade Administration: special rules for importing mainland Chinese goods · TFDA: cosmetic product listing · China International Trade Single Window · GACC online service guide: enterprise registration and declaration · General Administration of Customs of China · Ministry of Commerce of China · State Taxation Administration: export VAT refund · China Council for the Promotion of International Trade