Taiwan has clarified the business tax reporting and payment requirements for domestic businesses and organisations purchasing cross-border electronic services from foreign e-commerce platforms.
Taiwan’s Central District National Taxation Bureau of the Ministry of Finance stated that domestic businesses and organisations purchasing electronic services from foreign e-commerce platforms are required to declare and pay business tax in accordance with Article 36 of the Value-Added and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Act.
The Bureau explained that if a foreign e-commerce platform’s annual sales of electronic services to domestic individuals exceed a certain threshold (currently set at TWD 600,000), it must register for tax purposes in Taiwan and pay business tax starting from 1 May 2017, and issue cloud invoices beginning 1 January 2019.
However, when foreign e-commerce platforms sell electronic services to domestic businesses or organisations, they are not required to issue cloud invoices. Instead, the domestic businesses or organisations must declare and pay business tax in accordance with Article 36 of the Business Tax Act.
The Bureau further clarified that if a business calculates its tax liability under Chapter 4, Section 1 of the Business Tax Act, and the purchased services are exclusively used for taxable goods or services, then such purchased services are exempt from business tax.
The business must, within 15 days of the following period after payment, record the payment amount in Column 74 of the business tax return. For mixed-use businesses, in addition to recording the payment amount in Column 74, they must calculate and pay tax in accordance with the rules for mixed-use businesses. If the purchaser is an organisation, it must, within 15 days of the following period after payment, complete the “Business Tax Payment Form for Purchasing Foreign Services (Form 408)” and pay the business tax.
The Bureau reminded that businesses and organisations that do not calculate tax under Chapter 4, Section 1 of the Business Tax Act, or that purchase services not exclusively used for taxable goods or services, must declare and pay business tax within 15 days of the following period after payment when purchasing electronic services from foreign e-commerce platforms. If business tax has not been paid in accordance with regulations, taxpayers should promptly file supplementary declarations and payments.
This announcement was made on 10 July 2026.
