Offshore Electronic Service Suppliers Selling Those Services to Individuals Within Our Country but Failing to Issue Cloud Invoices Will Face Legal Penalties for Failure to Issue CIoud Invoices

The National Taxation Bureau of Taipei, Ministry of Finance (hereinafter referred to as NTBT) announced that offshore electronic service suppliers selling electronic services to natural persons within our country must issue cloud invoices according to regulations and deliver the cloud invoices to consumers. Failure to issue cloud invoices will result in legal penalties.

    The NTBT stated that offshore electronic service suppliers may establish their own cloud invoicing system or delegate the task of issuing cloud invoices to locally-approved value-added centers. To help those suppliers find appropriate value-added centers, the NTBT has compiled a list of centers that have previously assisted offshore electronic services suppliers in uploading cloud invoices to the E-Invoice Platform, Ministry of Finance and are willing to provide related services. The list of these value-added centers is available under "The Information Zone of Cloud Invoice Implementation>Reference Material and Examples" on the E-Invoice Platform, which is accessible via a link on the "eTax Portal, Ministry of Finance>Tax on Cross-Border Electronic Services>Cloud Invoices" page. Those who need assistance can contact the value-added centers through the email addresses on the provided list.

    The NTBT pointed out that the Ministry of Finance has provided a list of the cloud invoices issuance status among registered offshore electronic services suppliers on the E-Invoice Platform. This list is accessible through the eTax Portal (https://www.etax.nat.gov.tw), under the "Inquire about Registered Business Entities" page, Business Tax of "Tax on Cross-Border Electronic Services" section. As of March 10, 2023, 123 offshore electronic services suppliers have issued cloud invoices, but some have yet to comply with the regulations. Those failing to do so may be subject to the penalties under Paragraph 1, Article 47 of the Value-Added and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Act. Furthermore, any instances of tax evasion or understatement may result in a heavier penalty among those penalties under either Article 51 or 52 of the same Act or Article 44 of the Tax Collection Act.

    The NTBT urges offshore electronic service suppliers selling electronic services to domestic natural persons to issue cloud invoices according to regulations. If there are any doubts or difficulties, please contact the local tax authorities, the Fiscal Information Agency, Ministry of Finance, or our local value-added centers as soon as possible to facilitate the completion of system integration, smoothly issue cloud invoices, protect the interests of consumers and their prize-winning opportunities under the uniform invoice lottery, and avoid potential penalties from tax authorities.

 

(Contact: Ms. Lai, Section Head of the Sales Tax Division; Tel: 886-2-2311-3711 ext. 2530)