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 the import-rule column for MW0 (not permitted) or MP1 (permitted with conditions). For express consignments addressed to an individual, the declaration is only accepted once the consignee has completed real-name verification in the EZ WAY app.
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 carry no export duty. Art. 10 of the Tariff Law of the People's Republic of China (in force 2024-12-01) provides for an export rate on export duty and allows provisional rates for defined periods, but only a short list in the annually published Import and Export Tariff actually carries one. Exported goods are zero-rated for VAT under art. 10(4) of the Value-Added Tax Law (in force 2026-01-01), unless the State Council provides otherwise, and qualifying exporters can claim an export refund at the rate published for the commodity code.
Export controls rest on the Export Control Law and the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items (State Council Decree 792, promulgated 2024-10-19 and in force 2024-12-01). Art. 4 of those Regulations makes the State Council's commerce department (MOFCOM) the responsible authority; art. 11 requires MOFCOM to draw up, adjust and publish the dual-use export control list; and art. 15 provides three licence forms — individual licence, general licence and registration filing — with a 45-working-day review period. Listed items need a dual-use item and technology export licence, and MOFCOM and GACC publish a Catalogue of Dual-Use Items and Technologies Subject to Import and Export Licensing each year (the 2026 edition was published on 2025-12-31 as Announcement 2025 No. 91 and applies from 2026-01-01). The regulatory condition code attached to the commodity code is the starting point for working out 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 rate columns: column 1 applies to WTO members and to countries or areas granted reciprocal treatment, which covers most imports; column 2 applies to specified goods from designated least-developed or developing countries and from free trade or economic cooperation agreement partners; column 3 applies to goods that qualify for neither. Where columns 1 and 2 both apply, the lower rate is used (Customs Import Tariff, General Rule 2). Goods from Korea, the United States and mainland China have no agreement with Taiwan, so column 1 applies. 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 originating in mainland China have their own rule. The import-rule column of the tariff schedule carries the codes MW0 and MP1: under the International Trade Administration's notice, MW0 means "mainland goods not permitted to be imported" and MP1 means "mainland goods permitted to be imported subject to conditions". If neither code appears, the mainland goods are permitted and no import permit is needed. Separately, inspection-listed commodities must be presented to the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), and food and cosmetics follow the border inspection and product-listing rules of the 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 · MOF law system: Regulations Governing the Inspection, Taxation and Release of Inbound Passengers' Baggage (art. 11 allowances) · Customs Administration: real-name verification for express consignees (EZ WAY) · International Trade Administration: rules governing imports of mainland goods (MW0 and MP1 definitions) · International Trade Administration: trade promotion service fee (rate and basis) · Laws and Regulations Database of Taiwan: Customs Act article 16 (import declaration deadline) · Laws and Regulations Database of Taiwan: Customs Import Tariff, General Rules (which of the three rate columns applies) · 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 · State Council: Regulations on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items (State Council Decree 792, in force 2024-12-01) · MOFCOM: 2026 Catalogue of Dual-Use Items and Technologies Subject to Import and Export Licensing (MOFCOM/GACC Announcement 2025 No. 91) · State Council Gazette: Provisions on the Declaration of Import and Export Goods (GACC Decree 277, in force 2025-05-01) · Ministry of Finance, Tariff Department: Tariff Law of the People's Republic of China (in force 2024-12-01) · China MOJ — Regulations for the Implementation of the Import and Export Commodity Inspection Law (State Council Order 447, rev. 2013), Art. 3 on the inspection catalogue