Individuals Selling Goods or Services through the Internet for Profit Are Required to Apply for Tax Registration.
In recent years, the popularity of mobile devices and changes in consumer habits has led to a shift in sales patterns from physical stores to online stores. The National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, Ministry of Finance stated that individuals who use online platforms or social media software to sell goods or services for profit are considered to have online sales acts, and they shall apply for tax registration to the National Taxation Bureau at the latest by the end of the following month when their monthly sales reach the minimum taxable sales amount for business tax (sales of goods amounting to NT$80,000 or sales of services amounting to NT$40,000).
The Bureau further explained that, starting from January 31, 2020, if an individual using an online platform to sell goods or services only applies for tax registration until the end of the month following the month in which the sales amount reaches the tax threshold for business tax, or if he or she only completes the tax registration within the time limit after his/her non-compliance is found by the authority before the end of the following month, the National Taxation Bureau shall impose business tax deficiencies in accordance with the law on the sales amount from the first day of the month in which the tax threshold has been reached to the date of completing registration, exempting him/her from the penalties stipulated in Article 45 and Subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1, Article 51 of the Value-Added and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Act.
For example, Mr. Wang has been selling goods through the Internet since June 1, 2010, and his sales amounted to NT$30,000 during the month of June, which did not reach the tax threshold and was temporarily exempted from applying for tax registration; his sales from July 1 to July 15 reached NT$90,000 (which has reached the tax threshold) and he shall apply for tax registration immediately. If Mr. Wang applied for tax registration on his own or if he was made to comply with the registration requirements within the time limit after his non-compliance was found by the authority before August 31, 2020, only the sales made by Mr. Wang from July 1 to the date of completing tax registration will be subject to tax deficiencies and no penalty will be imposed. If Mr. Wang completed the tax registration or if his non-compliance was found after August 31, 2020, he shall be subject to tax deficiencies and penalty for the sales from July 1 to the date of completing tax registration, in addition to complying with the provisions of Article 48-1 of the Tax Collection Act.
Contact: Mrs. Wu, Head of the Forth Examination Division
TEL: 07-7256600 #7350
Reference URL：https://www.mof.gov.tw/Eng/singlehtml/f48d641f159a4866b1d31c0916fbcc71?cntId=7a2e5cedcd00421e913c56f8ac4b532f