If a pharmacist starts a new pharmacy selling nonprescription drugs or products, taxation registration is required!
According to the National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, Ministry of Finance, it recently received a call from a person who has just obtained a pharmacist's license and wants to open his own pharmacy, should he apply for taxation registration?
The Bureau explained that the current law stipulates if a pharmacist only operates a pharmacy which dispenses drugs in accordance with prescriptions written by physicians, and the pharmacy receives the dispensing fee and medicine fee as revenue from the Bureau of National Health Insurance, this revenue is the pharmacist's income from professional practice and is subject to the individual income tax in accordance with the law. Thus, it is not related to business tax and is exempt from taxation registration. If the pharmacy wants to sell nonprescription drugs or products (e.g., health supplements, milk powder, etc.) concurrently, taxation registration is required and it shall be subject to business tax in accordance with the law.
The Bureau reminded that pharmacists' selling of nonprescription drugs or other goods is no different from general stores' selling of goods or services, and that they should complete taxation registration before opening for business to avoid being subject to tax supplementary payment and penalties if it is reported or detected.
Contact: Mrs. Zhang, Revenue Officer of the Forth Examination Division
TEL: 07-7256600ext.7315
Reference URL：https://www.mof.gov.tw/Eng/singlehtml/f48d641f159a4866b1d31c0916fbcc71?cntId=bad13bcf2ca94237b33d24b8ede5ca53