The National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, under Taiwan's Ministry of Finance, has clarified that property donated to educational, cultural, public welfare, charitable, religious organisations and ancestral worship associations can be excluded from the aggregate amount of gifts only when the recipient is a duly registered foundation legal entity meeting standards set by the Executive Yuan.
Taiwan’s National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, operating under the Ministry of Finance, has stated that property donated by individuals to educational, cultural, public welfare, charitable, religious organisations and ancestral worship associations may be excluded from the aggregate amount of gifts only when the recipient is a foundation duly registered as a legal entity and meets the standards prescribed by the Executive Yuan.
The Bureau explained that, under Article 20, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3 of the Estate and Gift Tax Act, the recipient must be a foundation organisation that has been duly registered and established in accordance with the law. At the time of receiving the donation, it must also meet the requirements set out in the Executive Yuan’s Standards for the Exclusion from the Total Estate or Aggregate Amount of Gifts of Property Donated to Educational, Cultural, Public Welfare, Charitable, Religious Organisations and Ancestral Worship Association Foundations. Only donations meeting these requirements may be excluded from the donor’s aggregate amount of gifts for the relevant year.
If the recipient does not meet the above requirements, the donated amount must still be included in the donor’s aggregate amount of gifts for that year and is subject to gift tax.
The Bureau cited the example of an individual, A, who transferred a piece of land, with a government-assessed present value of TWD 6 million, to B, the manager of a religious organisation, during A’s lifetime under a sale transaction. After A died, the Bureau found during its estate tax review that the payment for the land transfer had not been reported as part of the total estate.
A’s heirs argued that the religious organisation had registered ownership of the land in A’s name under a nominee registration arrangement. They submitted A’s will, which stated that all land registered in A’s name would be bequeathed to B. The heirs claimed that the land had simply been transferred before A’s death, which they said supported the existence of a nominee registration arrangement.
However, the heirs were unable to provide documents relating to the purchase and sale of the land or evidence of the relevant flow of funds. The Bureau found the evidence insufficient to support the claim of nominee registration.
In addition, B was the manager of the religious organisation rather than a foundation organisation duly registered as a legal entity. As a result, the donation did not qualify for exclusion from the aggregate amount of gifts under Article 20, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3 of the Estate and Gift Tax Act.
Under the proviso to Article 7 of the Estate and Gift Tax Act, B, as the recipient, was therefore treated as the taxpayer. The gift tax payable was assessed at TWD 356,000, calculated as the gift amount of TWD 6 million minus the annual gift tax exemption of TWD 2.44 million, multiplied by a 10% tax rate.
The Bureau reminded individuals donating property to educational, cultural, public welfare, charitable, religious organisations or ancestral worship associations to pay close attention to the applicable tax rules.
The announcement was issued by the Individual Income Tax and Estate and Gift Tax Division and published by the National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, Ministry of Finance, on 1 September 2026.
