Buying and Selling a Flat in Taiwan as a Foreigner

If you are a foreign individual looking at a flat in Taiwan, either to live in or to sell later, the right to acquire the land and the taxes due at each stage are separate questions. Tax on the purchase, tax during ownership and tax on a sale each follow their own rules.

For a flat acquired by inheritance, the starting point is the guide for a foreign heir of Taiwan land.

Acquiring the land right

A foreigner may acquire or create land rights in the Republic of China only if, by treaty or under that person's own law, ROC nationals enjoy the same rights there (Land Act Article 18).

The Ministry of the Interior's English FAQ for buyers whose countries are not on the reciprocity list says a buyer whose country is not on the list should attach proof that the country gives ROC nationals the same rights. The FAQ identifies the "List of Reciprocal Nations for Foreigners Acquiring Land in Taiwan, R.O.C." (外國人在我國取得或設定土地權利互惠國家一覽表) as Tai-Nei-Tzu-Ti No. 0960192146, promulgated on December 11, 2007. It says the proof is notarized by a Taiwan embassy, consular office, representative office, or another agency accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the purchase-documents FAQ, a reciprocity certificate is unnecessary when the buyer's country is already on the list. Before signing, a buyer needs to establish whether their country is on the reciprocity list the land office is using.

Article 17 prohibits transferring, encumbering or leasing forest, fishery, hunting, salt, mining and water-source land to foreigners. The prohibition also covers land in a fortress or military area or on the border. A buyer needs to check the lot's registration against those categories. The second paragraph makes an exception for inheritance; the inheritance guide explains what follows.

Article 19 allows specified uses for self-use, investment or a public-interest purpose. Residence is the first listed use. The article also lists other permitted uses and a category of investment involving major construction, the economy, or farming or grazing. Investments in that category require approval from the central authority for that sector. Area and location limits are set by the local government; Article 19 itself gives no numerical limits.

An application to the municipal or county (city) government is required under Article 20. Local government approval is also required for a change of use or a later transfer, unless the transfer is by inheritance. The investment category needs prior consent from that sector's central authority as well.

The local government has 14 days to decide after accepting the application and then reports any approval to the central land authority. That period covers the government's decision; it does not set the closing date. A later sale by the foreign owner also requires approval.

The documents FAQ says the buyer submits the application to the land office responsible for the property. The documents comprise a registration application, identification for both parties, the contract, tax documents and the ownership certificate. A reciprocity certificate is required unless the buyer's country is already on the list, and a zoning certificate unless the land is non-urban. A buyer who does not apply in person also needs a power of attorney. The FAQ refers to the Operational Directions for Foreigners to Acquire Land Rights in Taiwan.

Deed tax when you buy

Deed Tax Act Article 2 requires a filing and deed tax when real estate is acquired by sale, dien, exchange, gift, partition or possession. Land in an area where land value increment tax is levied is exempt. For a flat consisting of a building and a share of the land, that exemption covers the land share in such an area, not the building.

The rate on a sale is 6 percent of the deed price (契價), under Article 3. Under Article 4, the buyer files and pays.

“Deed price” does not ordinarily mean the price agreed in the contract. Article 13 defines it as the standard price set by the local real estate assessment committee. The exception is a transfer covered by Article 11—a transfer of public property or a court auction—where the transfer price is lower. For an ordinary private purchase, deed tax is therefore not calculated as 6 percent of the contract price.

Under Article 16, the prescribed-form contract must be filed within 30 days of the contract date. A different starting point applies when a building is sold before completion, the buyer was the original permit applicant, and the buyer later receives the occupancy permit. Payment is due within 30 days after the tax bill is served, under Article 19.

Taxes during ownership

The building owner is liable for house tax under House Tax Act Article 4. Special rules cover a house held under a right of use, a dien holder, co-owners and a trustee.

Land is taxed separately. Land Tax Act Article 1 divides land tax into land value tax, agricultural land tax and land value increment tax. Under Article 14, land with an officially prescribed value is subject to land value tax, except where Article 22 imposes agricultural land tax.

The rate on a sale depends on tax residence

Income Tax Act Article 4-4 covers transactions involving a house, a house and its land, or land eligible for a building permit, acquired on or after January 1, 2016. It also covers a presale property together with its land, and a house-use right created by superficies, acquired on or after that date. A purchase now falls on or after that date.

Under Article 7, a resident is someone who has a Taiwan domicile and habitually lives in Taiwan, or who has no Taiwan domicile but stays 183 days or more in the tax year. Everyone else is a non-resident. The column on Taiwan income-tax residence explains that test. A seller who is a resident in the year of sale is subject to the resident rates in Article 14-4.

For property acquired by purchase, the calculation under Article 14-4 starts with the transaction price, less the original cost and the expenses of acquisition, improvement and transfer. A different base applies to inherited or gifted property under the same article.

Land value increment tax paid is not deductible as a cost, except for the tax attributable to the portion of the total land value increase not deducted in calculating income from this sale. The calculation then deducts the total land value increase computed from the announced present value under Land Tax Act Article 30, paragraph 1. The remaining balance is taxed separately from consolidated income.

For an individual who is not a resident of the Republic of China, the rate on that balance is 45 percent if the house-and-land holding period is within two years, and 35 percent if the holding period exceeds two years.

A non-resident gets no further rate reduction at five or ten years. Residents are subject to a different schedule under the same article. For a resident selling a house and its land that satisfy the self-use conditions in Article 4-5, paragraph 1, item 1, the rate is 10 percent on the portion of the balance above NT$4 million. That resident schedule does not apply to a non-resident.

If you inherited the flat, or received it by bequest, the holding period of the deceased owner, or of the person who made the bequest, may be combined with yours.

A filing is required under Article 14-5, even when no tax is due. Once an ownership transfer is completed, the 30-day filing period begins the day after registration. The seller files with the tax office, attaching the contract and supporting documents, and the payment receipt if tax is due. For a transaction involving a presale property and its land, the 30 days begin the day after the transaction date.

Land value increment tax on a sale

Land value increment tax is separate from the income tax on the sale. Under Land Tax Act Article 28, it is levied when ownership of land with a prescribed value is transferred, on the total increase in that value.

Article 28 exempts transfers by inheritance, the sale or lawful gift of public land by a government, and private land donated to a government. These exemptions are also described in the Ministry of Finance manual. Article 28 does not generally exempt gifts between private persons, and its exemptions do not cover an ordinary private sale of a flat.

Article 5 names the original owner as the taxpayer on a compensated transfer, which includes a sale. A contract clause about who hands over the cash does not change that.

The progressive rates are set out in Article 33. After a holding period of more than 20, 30 or 40 years, the amount of tax exceeding the amount calculated at the lowest rate is reduced.

Under Article 30, paragraph 1, a declaration filed within 30 days of the contract date is audited against the announced present value for the period in which the contract date falls. A later declaration uses the announced present value for the period in which the office receives the filing.

Before you commit

Before a deposit becomes difficult to recover, a buyer needs to check nationality against Article 18 and the list the land office is using, and the lot's registration against Article 17. The intended residential use must fall within Article 19, with an Article 20 approval or a filing the office has accepted. That review also includes the registered owner and the rights on the title, followed by the taxes due under the deed-tax, land-value and non-resident income-tax rules above.

If your days in Taiwan may make you a resident, the residence test matters before you rely on the 35 percent rate. If the contract includes a land share, these land rules apply to it. If it mentions only the building, you still need to establish whether any land rights are also being transferred.

Advice on your Taiwan purchase or sale

Hovering International Law Firm can review the Land Act requirements and Taiwan tax implications of a foreign buyer's purchase or sale. Attorney Wei Tseng (曾雋崴) handles the consultation.

This is general information. For advice on your Taiwan case, your first email should include your nationality, whether you live in Taiwan and about how many days you spend here, the address or lot number, whether you are buying or selling, and the draft contract if you have one. She will explain how to submit identification and title documents.

Email wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw. The office is at 7F-2, No. 35, Sec. 1, Chengde Rd., Datong Dist., Taipei City 103, Taiwan (103 臺北市大同區承德路一段35號7樓之2).

Sources and related reading

• Land Act, Article 17, Article 18, Article 19, and Article 20.
• Ministry of the Interior English FAQ: documents for a foreign national's purchase.
• Ministry of the Interior English FAQ: nationals not on the reciprocal list.
• Deed Tax Act, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4, Article 11, Article 13, Article 16, and Article 19.
• House Tax Act, Article 4.
• Ministry of Finance: land value increment tax manual.
• Land Tax Act, Article 1, Article 5, Article 14, Article 28, Article 30, and Article 33.
• Income Tax Act, Article 4-4, Article 7, Article 14-4, and Article 14-5.
• Guide for a foreign heir of Taiwan land.
• Taiwan income-tax residence.

Checked: September 30, 2026