An American who sells bitcoin while living in Taipei stays under the same US filing rules as a citizen at home. The IRS taxes citizens on worldwide income, and it treats digital assets as property (IRS on citizens abroad; IRS on digital assets). Taiwan looks at the same sale through its own statutes.
Its tax bureaus are looking. In a written report sent to the Legislative Yuan on January 13, 2025, the Ministry of Finance said the regional National Taxation Bureaus treat trading on online crypto platforms as an audit item. They send inquiry letters to the people who earned the income or collect platform data and transaction records. By December 13, 2024, those audits had found NT$129,196,958 of unreported or underreported income. Back taxes and penalties came to NT$34,030,653.
The 8949 list, converted for Taipei
Americans who report crypto sales already keep one record: the sale-by-sale list behind Form 8949. The IRS instructions ask for each sale's date acquired, date sold, proceeds and cost or other basis, and allow rounding to whole dollars (Instructions for Form 8949).
Taiwan's computation starts from a familiar subtraction. Under the Ministry's report, an individual who buys and sells non-security crypto on an occasional basis has property transaction income under Income Tax Act Article 14(1), Category 7: sale price minus original cost and related expenses, added to consolidated income. Tokens the Financial Supervisory Commission treats as securities are different. They produce securities transaction income, and individual income tax on it is suspended under Article 4-1. Frequent trading is not addressed.
So the 8949 list is a good start for a Taiwan reply. Three things change.
Currency comes first. If the gain is treated as overseas income, foreign-currency amounts are converted into NT dollars at the average of Bank of Taiwan's spot buying and selling closing rates on the payment date, under point 17 of the Ministry's audit rules for overseas income. Dollar totals do not carry over as they are.
Then language. For overseas income, point 19 requires a Chinese translation of foreign-language documents unless the bureau approves an English version, so even an English exchange export needs that approval to go in untranslated.
Gifted coins are the third. On Form 8949, the basis of property received as a gift is generally the donor's basis. Taiwan's statute replaces cost with the market value at the time of the gift or inheritance (Article 14(1), Category 7, item 2). The same coins can carry two different cost figures.
Behind the 8949 list sit the records a bureau may actually ask to see: exchange exports covering every trade, deposit and withdrawal, the bank wires that funded the account, the TxIDs of wallet transfers. If the books and documents that prove income are not produced during an investigation, Article 83 lets the bureau set income from information it has gathered or from industry profit standards. Overseas income has a sharper rule. Under point 16 of the audit rules, missing proof of cost and expenses means income of 20% of the actual sale price for securities and other property (12% for real estate), unless the bureau finds a higher actual figure; the point never mentions crypto, so whether a non-security token is "other property" is the bureau's call.
The year you leave
A sale in the year you move back raises a filing question before a tax one. Article 73 says a non-resident with Taiwan-source income that is not subject to withholding files before departure if leaving before the filing period begins, or within the filing period if still in Taiwan.
Non-residence is a matter of days. Someone without a domicile in Taiwan is resident only with 183 days or more in the calendar year (Article 7), so someone who arrived in January and leaves for good in mid-June, about 166 days later, falls short. That year, the alternative minimum tax does not apply at all (Income Basic Tax Act Article 3, paragraph 1, item 5), and the overseas-income threshold discussed below drops out. The residency column covers the day count in detail.
Taiwan source or overseas, and whether US tax counts
When a citizen's crypto gain is taxed in both countries, the Taiwan rule to look at is a credit that sits inside the alternative minimum tax. Article 13 of the Income Basic Tax Act lets income tax paid under the tax law of the place where overseas income arose be credited against the basic tax. The credit is capped at the extra basic tax that income adds, and it needs a same-year tax certificate from that tax authority, verified by a Taiwan overseas mission or another authorized body. No treaty adds anything: the Ministry's list of tax agreements shows only a shipping and air transport arrangement with the United States.
That turns the credit question into a source question. Article 8, item 7, makes "gains from property transactions within the territory of the Republic of China" Taiwan-source income. A sale clicked in Taipei on a US exchange: inside or outside? The Ministry's report is silent. As of the check date we found no statutory rule or published Ministry ruling on it, and the same gap covers Taiwan-registered platforms.
Treated as Taiwan-source income, a resident's gain joins consolidated income at the progressive rates in Article 5, paragraph 2, and Article 13 has nothing to attach to. A loss offsets property transaction income of the same year, and any shortfall carries forward three years (Article 17).
Treated as overseas income, the gain runs through the minimum tax instead. It counts in the basic income amount under Article 12, paragraph 1, item 1, only once the household's overseas total for the year reaches NT$1 million, and then in full (Enforcement Rules Article 15). For 2025 income, the Ministry's May 2026 notice deducts NT$7.5 million and applies 20% to the remainder; tax is due only where that figure exceeds regular income tax. This is the branch where a US tax certificate could matter, provided the United States counts as the place where the gain arose. Overseas losses offset only same-year overseas property gains, up to those gains, with both sides computed from actual prices and original cost verified by the bureau (point 16).
The audit rules that apply anyway
None of the procedure is special to crypto. A bureau can assess within five years of a timely return filed without fraud, or seven where no return was filed on time or tax was intentionally evaded by fraud or other improper means (Tax Collection Act Article 21). An assessment that shows tax payable can be disputed by requesting re-examination, with reasons and evidence, within 30 days from the day after the payment period ends (Article 35), and then by administrative appeal and in court (Article 38); Taiwan tax assessment appeal deadlines walks through the counting. While an audit runs, documents you hand over get a receipt and, unless a tax violation or evasion is suspected, come back within 30 days of complete submission, with one further 30-day extension possible in special circumstances, approved by the head of the tax authority (Article 30). Fines run up to twice the tax evaded on a filed return and up to three times the tax assessed where no return was filed (Income Tax Act Article 110), and the minimum tax uses the same multiples (Income Basic Tax Act Article 15).
Working with a lawyer in Taipei
A Taiwan lawyer can turn the Form 8949 list and the exchange exports into an NT dollar computation with Chinese translations, answer the bureau's inquiry letter, and set out a position on residency for the year and on where the sales took place. If the gain may be overseas income, the lawyer can also put together the certificate and verification an Article 13 credit needs. After an assessment come re-examination and appeal. US filing questions stay with your US tax adviser. Hovering International Law Firm (昊鼎國際法律事務所) has an English-speaking lawyer in Taipei; write to wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw. Taipei office: 7F-2, No. 35, Sec. 1, Chengde Rd., Datong Dist., Taipei 103 (103臺北市大同區承德路一段35號7樓之2).
Whether the US tax on a crypto gain counts for anything in Taiwan depends on sourcing questions (Taiwan or overseas, and if overseas, whether the United States is where the gain arose) that, for now, have no published answer.
Sources
Checked October 26, 2026.
- Ministry of Finance, written report to the Legislative Yuan on crypto income tax rules (January 13, 2025, Tai-Cai-Shui No. 11304672340)
- Income Tax Act (所得稅法): Article 4-1, Article 5, Article 7, Article 8, Article 14, Article 17, Article 73, Article 83, Article 110
- Income Basic Tax Act (所得基本稅額條例): Article 3, Article 12, Article 13, Article 15; Enforcement Rules Article 15
- Tax Collection Act (稅捐稽徵法): Article 21, Article 30, Article 35, Article 38
- Ministry of Finance, rules for reporting and auditing non-ROC-source income in the basic income amount (posted by the Taipei National Taxation Bureau)
- Ministry of Finance news release (May 11, 2026) on reporting overseas income
- Ministry of Finance, list of Taiwan's income tax agreements
- IRS: U.S. citizens and resident aliens abroad
- IRS: Digital assets
- IRS: Instructions for Form 8949
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can the US tax I paid on a crypto gain be credited in Taiwan?
- Possibly, through a credit inside Taiwan's alternative minimum tax. Taiwan and the United States have no comprehensive income tax agreement. Article 13 of the Income Basic Tax Act lets income tax paid under the law of the place where overseas income arose be credited against the basic tax, up to the extra basic tax that income adds, with a same-year tax certificate verified by a Taiwan overseas mission or another authorized body. That only matters if the gain is overseas income and the United States is the place where it arose; Taiwan has not said whether, or where, a crypto sale on a foreign exchange is sourced.
- Will my Form 8949 records satisfy a Taiwan tax bureau?
- They are a starting point. Form 8949 lists each sale's dates, proceeds and basis in dollars. For overseas income, point 17 of the Ministry's audit rules converts foreign-currency income at Bank of Taiwan rates on the payment date, and point 19 requires a Chinese translation unless the bureau approves an English version. For coins received by gift or inheritance, Taiwan uses the market value at that time in place of cost (Income Tax Act Article 14(1), Category 7, item 2).
- Are security tokens taxed the same way as other crypto in Taiwan?
- No. The Ministry of Finance's January 2025 report to the legislature separates them. Tokens the Financial Supervisory Commission treats as securities produce securities transaction income, and individual income tax on that is suspended under Income Tax Act Article 4-1. Occasional sales of non-security crypto are property transaction income under Article 14(1), Category 7, computed as sale price minus original cost and related expenses. The report does not address frequent trading.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice on any individual matter.
