Taiwan’s Northern District National Taxation Bureau warns that taxable prices must include business tax, and uniform invoices must be issued, with violators facing penalties for an extra 5% charge or underreporting sales.
Taiwan’s Northern District National Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance stated that when business operators sell goods or services, the pricing of taxable items must include business tax. In addition, uniform invoices must be issued in accordance with the prescribed time limits for issuing sales certificates. Business operators may not require consumers to pay an additional 5% business tax if they wish to obtain a uniform invoice, in order to avoid penalties.
This announcement was made on 19 December 2025.
The Bureau explained that this regulation is intended to prevent business operators from claiming that sales prices do not include business tax, thereby requiring buyers to pay additional tax. Such practices discourage buyers from requesting uniform invoices and serve as a means of evading business tax.
Article 32, Paragraph 2 of the Value-Added and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as the Business Tax Act) clearly stipulates that the pricing of taxable goods or services must include business tax. In other words, the listed price equals the sales amount plus the output tax. If a business operator sets prices that do not include business tax and fails to issue uniform invoices to buyers in accordance with the law, they will be subject to heavier penalties under Article 51, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3 of the Business Tax Act or Article 44 of the Tax Collection Act.
The Bureau further explained that it has recently discovered that some online sellers failed to properly indicate product prices. By using AI tools to collect and analyse seller information flows on shopping platforms, the Bureau found that one online seller listed product prices excluding tax. For example, when a buyer placed an order for a product priced at TWD 100 (tax excluded), the seller required an additional 5% business tax payment before issuing an invoice totalling TWD 105. Upon investigation, the Bureau determined that between 2021 and 2025, this seller failed to issue uniform invoices and underreported sales totalling more than TWD 9.6 million. In addition to recovering the unpaid business tax, the Bureau imposed penalties in accordance with Article 51, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3 of the Business Tax Act and Article 44 of the Tax Collection Act.
The Bureau urges business operators to collect payments based on the listed price of taxable goods and services and to issue uniform invoices honestly and in compliance with the law. Business operators must not require consumers to pay business tax separately, so as to avoid consumer disputes and penalties for failing to issue invoices.
