Disputing a Taiwan Tax Assessment: 30 Days to Seek Re-examination, Then Appeal and Court

A Taiwan tax assessment can be challenged through only one door at first: an application for re-examination (復查) filed with the same National Taxation Bureau within 30 days. Where the assessment notice shows tax to pay, those 30 days start on the day after the payment period on the tax bill (繳款書) ends. Where it shows no tax to pay, they start on the day after the notice is served (Tax Collection Act, Art. 35(1)). Going straight to an administrative appeal without re-examination is not allowed (Taipei National Taxation Bureau (財政部臺北國稅局) Q&A, Q6).

Notices are served on the Taiwan subsidiary. Every day the notice takes to reach the parent's legal team in the US or Vietnam comes out of those 30.

What the tax office may ask for, and how far back it can look

Under Article 30 of the Tax Collection Act, investigators may demand books, documents and other records, or summon the taxpayer to their office for questioning, and the person investigated may not refuse. The inquiry must stay within what the tax purpose requires. The office must give a receipt for records handed over and, unless tax evasion is suspected, return them within 30 days after delivery is complete, extendable once by 30 days with the head of the office's approval. If the books are not produced, the office may assess income from information it obtains or from industry profit standards (同業利潤標準) (Income Tax Act, Art. 83).

How far back can it go? For self-filed taxes such as corporate income tax, the assessment period is five years if the return was filed on time and without fraud or other improper means, and seven years if it was not filed on time or tax was deliberately evaded by such means (Art. 21). An on-time May return (see A Taiwan Subsidiary's Tax Year) starts the clock on the filing date. A late or missing return starts it on the day after the filing deadline (Art. 22). Tax not discovered within the period can no longer be assessed. Once tax is assessed, the collection period is five years from the day after the payment period ends (Art. 23).

Rights the company keeps during the audit

Before an investigation, the tax office must tell the company in writing why it is investigating and what it covers, unless notice would defeat the purpose. The company may appoint an agent or bring an assistant, and may decline to make statements or be examined until they arrive. That right lapses if a properly notified agent fails to appear without good reason. After telling the office, the company may record the session on audio or video; the office can refuse only for a legitimate need to keep the investigation confidential, noted in the record (Taxpayer Rights Protection Act, Art. 12).

Who has to prove the facts? Unless a law provides otherwise, the tax office bears the burden of proving the facts that create a tax or penalty liability. It must generally give the taxpayer a chance to explain before assessing or penalizing, and state its reasons and legal basis in writing (Art. 11). Each tax office also has a Taxpayer Rights Protection Officer (納稅者權利保護官) who helps the two sides communicate in a dispute and advises taxpayers seeking a remedy. Names and contact details are posted on the office's website (Art. 20).

Step one: re-examination, with no payment required

Applications use the prescribed form, state the reasons and attach supporting evidence. An application's filing date is the day the tax office receives it. Mailed applications count from the postmark at the place of mailing (Art. 35(2)). The 30 days are a peremptory period. A late application is dismissed on procedural grounds (Kaohsiung National Taxation Bureau (財政部高雄國稅局) notice).

Two months is the decision deadline, counted from the day after the office receives the application. Article 35 provides no extension. If no decision arrives in time, the company may go directly to an administrative appeal (Art. 35(4)–(5)).

Paying first is not a condition. The Taipei bureau's Q&A (Q3) says no payment or security is needed, and Article 39(1) suspends transfer of the tax to compulsory enforcement once re-examination is filed. There is a cost. If the unpaid tax is finally upheld, interest runs from the day after the original payment deadline until the supplementary bill is issued (Art. 38(3)).

Step two: administrative appeal and the one-third rule

A company that still disagrees files an administrative appeal (訴願) with the Ministry of Finance, lodged through the tax office that issued the decision. The deadline is 30 days from the day after the decision reaches the company (Administrative Appeal Act, Art. 14(1); Art. 58). Postmarks do not count here. The appeal is filed on the day the tax office or the Ministry receives it (Art. 14(3)).

Enforcement stays suspended during the appeal only in three situations: the company pays one third of the tax set by the re-examination decision and files the appeal; paying one third is genuinely difficult and the office approves adequate security; or both are difficult and the office has notified the relevant authorities that property equal to the tax may not be transferred or encumbered (Tax Collection Act, Art. 39(2)). The share was cut from one half to one third in the 2021 amendment (Taxation Administration (財政部賦稅署) release of November 30, 2021).

Decisions on the appeal are due within three months from the day after the Ministry receives the petition, extendable once by up to two months (Administrative Appeal Act, Art. 85). If it misses that deadline, the company may sue (Administrative Litigation Act, Art. 4).

Step three: the administrative courts

Suit must be filed within a peremptory period of two months after the appeal decision is served (Administrative Litigation Act, Art. 106). Since August 15, 2023 (Judicial Yuan), the first-instance court has depended on the tax assessed. As of October 2026, per the statute text, tax of NT$500,000 or less goes to the district-level administrative litigation division (地方行政訴訟庭) of a High Administrative Court under the summary procedure (Art. 229). Tax of NT$1,500,000 or less also starts there. Larger amounts go to the High Administrative Court division (高等行政訴訟庭) (Art. 104-1). The Judicial Yuan may change both figures by order (Art. 104-1(2); Art. 229(3)). In tax cases a CPA may act as litigation agent with the presiding judge's permission (Art. 49).

Both divisions' judgments carry the same 20-day appeal period (Ministry of Finance eTax Q&A; Art. 241).

Refunds, interest and late-payment surcharges

Winning brings interest on tax already paid. When a remedy ends with tax to refund, the office must repay within 10 days after the re-examination decision or after receiving the appeal decision or the court's judgment. Interest runs daily from the payment date until the refund is issued, at the postal savings one-year fixed deposit rate as of January 1 of each year (Tax Collection Act, Art. 38(2)).

Missing a payment deadline costs 1% of the unpaid amount for every three days late, and tax still unpaid after 30 days is sent for compulsory enforcement (Art. 20). The Southern Area National Taxation Bureau (財政部南區國稅局) says this version took effect on January 1, 2022, with the total surcharge capped at 10% (Q&A).

Outside the appeal track, tax overpaid because of an error in applying the law, finding facts, calculation or otherwise can be reclaimed within 10 years of payment, or 15 years where a government agency caused the error. That route closes once an administrative court has rendered a final judgment on the merits of the assessment (Art. 28).

Records worth having in Chinese before the letter arrives

Accounting records must be kept in Chinese. Foreign-language notes may be added, but the Chinese text prevails (Business Entity Accounting Act, Art. 8). If the office examines transfer pricing in writing, the company has one month from service of that letter to present its transfer pricing report, with one extension of up to one month. Foreign-language material needs a Chinese translation unless the office has approved an English version (transfer pricing regulations, Art. 22). The report includes copies or main extracts of significant intra-group agreements; the thresholds are covered in Taiwan Transfer Pricing Documentation.

Signed service, license and cost agreements with the parent, matched to the wire records, double as evidence for a re-examination brief. If the originals are in English or Vietnamese, allow for translation time inside the same 30 days. How any additional Taiwan tax interacts with the foreign tax credit back home is a question for a US or Vietnamese tax adviser.

With the assessment notice, the tax bill and proof of when the subsidiary received them, Hovering International Law Firm (wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw) can start by working out how many days remain. Re-examination runs on the postmark and the appeal on the date of receipt, so the appeal petition has to be in the agency's hands by the last day.

Official sources

• Tax Collection Act (稅捐稽徵法, last amended December 17, 2021; Art. 20 in force January 1, 2022): Art. 20, Art. 21, Art. 22, Art. 23, Art. 28, Art. 30, Art. 35, Art. 38, Art. 39
• Taxpayer Rights Protection Act (納稅者權利保護法, last amended May 28, 2025): Art. 11, Art. 12, Art. 20
• Administrative Appeal Act (訴願法, last amended June 27, 2012): Art. 14, Art. 58, Art. 85
• Administrative Litigation Act (行政訴訟法, last amended June 22, 2022; in force August 15, 2023): Art. 4, Art. 49, Art. 104-1, Art. 106, Art. 229, Art. 241
• Income Tax Act (所得稅法, last amended September 11, 2026): Art. 83
• Business Entity Accounting Act (商業會計法, last amended June 18, 2014): Art. 8
• Regulations Governing Assessment of Profit-Seeking Enterprise Income Tax on Non-Arm's-Length Transfer Pricing (營利事業所得稅不合常規移轉訂價查核準則, last amended December 28, 2020): Art. 22
• Ministry of Finance eTax portal, Q&A on contesting a re-examination decision (updated January 3, 2024)
• Taipei National Taxation Bureau (財政部臺北國稅局), administrative remedies Q&A (updated March 31, 2026); Kaohsiung National Taxation Bureau (財政部高雄國稅局), notice on contesting a tax bill (December 4, 2023); Southern Area National Taxation Bureau (財政部南區國稅局), Q&A on the surcharge cut (December 27, 2021)
• Taxation Administration (財政部賦稅署), press release on the Tax Collection Act amendments (November 30, 2021)
• Judicial Yuan, page on the administrative litigation reform (updated March 31, 2026)

Checked: October 6, 2026