Taiwan’s Central District National Taxation Bureau has warned businesses operating multiple e-commerce accounts that they must issue uniform invoices and declare business tax. Firms attempting to underreport sales through rented or borrowed accounts face audits, fines, and additional tax liabilities.
Taiwan’s Central District National Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance stated that businesses required to use uniform invoices must issue them in accordance with regulations when operating multiple member accounts or online stores on e-commerce platforms, and must also declare and pay business tax. Businesses should not assume that online transactions exempt them from these obligations.
This announcement was made on 26 February 2026.
The Bureau explained that in recent cases, some online sellers were found to have rented or borrowed other people’s member accounts to operate multiple accounts on e-commerce platforms. By doing so, they attempted to disperse sales revenue and underreport transactions, thereby failing to issue uniform invoices and evading taxes. The Bureau emphasised that it will continue strengthening audits to prevent such tax avoidance practices.
For example, one business used 15 member accounts on a well-known e-commerce platform and concealed sales revenue from accounts where the platform was not authorised to issue uniform invoices. Upon investigation, it was found that between 2023 and 2024, the business failed to issue uniform invoices as required and underreported sales revenue exceeding TWD 15.84 million. As a result, the Bureau imposed a supplementary business tax of more than TWD 790,000 and, in accordance with Article 51, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3 of the Value-Added and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Act and Article 44 of the Tax Collection Act, levied an additional fine of more than TWD 790,000.
The Bureau urged that, whether selling goods or services through physical stores or online platforms, businesses must proactively issue uniform invoices to consumers in compliance with regulations, regardless of whether consumers request them. This protects consumer rights and prevents penalties due to negligence. Businesses should also review all online sales revenue. If they discover that invoices were not issued and business tax was not declared due to oversight, they may voluntarily report and pay the omitted tax along with interest before being reported or investigated by tax authorities or designated Ministry of Finance investigators. In such cases, penalties may be waived under Article 48-1 of the Tax Collection Act.
