Download Stamp Tax Act Note: In case of any discrepancy between the English

Stamp Tax Act
Note:
In case of any discrepancy between the English version and the Chinese text of this Act, the Chinese text shall govern.
Full text (24 articles) Promulgated on 8 December 1934 by Presidential Decree Amendment promulgated on 10 December 1936 by Presidential
Decree Amendment promulgated on 29 February 1937 by Presidential Decree Amendment promulgated on 29 April 1943 by Presidential Decree
Amendment promulgated on 18 January 1944 by Presidential Decree Amendment promulgated on 1 October 1945 by Presidential Decree
Amendment promulgated on 16 April 1946 by Presidential Decree Full text (30 articles) promulgated on 6 June 1947 by Presidential Decree Full
text (36 articles) promulgated on 3 April 1948 by Presidential Decree Amendment promulgated on 21 June 1950 by Presidential Decree Full text
(44 articles) promulgated on 6 June 1953 by Presidential Decree Amendment promulgated on 9 December 1954 by Presidential Decree
Amendment promulgated on 24 October 1958 by Presidential Decree Amendment promulgated on 8 June 1973 by Presidential Decree Full text
(31 articles) promulgated on 5 July 1978 by Presidential Decree Amendment promulgated on 5 December 1979 by Presidential Decree
Amendment promulgated on 16 April 1984 by Presidential Decree Amendment to Articles 5, 7 & 9 and deletion of Article 19 promulgated on 17
January 1986 by Presidential Decree Deletion of Articles 27 & 28 promulgated on 30 July 1993 under Presidential Decree
Chapter I - General
Article 1
Documents provided in this Act and drawn up in the territory of the Republic of China shall be subject to the levy of stamp tax according to this
Act.
Article 2
Unless otherwise specified in this Act, stamp tax shall be collected by means by the issuance of tax stamps by the Ministry of Finance.
Article 3
The dollar amounts provided in this Act shall be denominated in the national currency (yuan), which, for practical purposes, shall be converted
into a comparable common currency issued under the authorization of the Central Government.
Article 4
Documents subject to the levy of stamp tax shall be retained for at least two years after the rights and obligations provided in said document
cease to exist. But for publicly owned enterprises or joint ventures of public and private enterprises, the duration of retention shall accord to the
provisions of the Accounting and other relevant regulations.
Chapter II - Scope of Taxation
Article 5
Types of documents subject to the levy of stamp tax include:
(deleted).
Receipts for monetary payments: referring to documents, books or records drawn upon the receipt of money, such as receipts, slips, releases,
bank books, payment records and the like issued to identify monetary payment, but excluding monetary receipts for commercial invoices or
commercial invoices for monetary receipts.
Deeds for sale of movables: Referring to deeds receipts issued for sale of movables.
Contracting agreements: Referring to agreements executed for the completion of a specifically ordered task, e.g. construction contracts, printing
contracts, OEM contracts and the like.
Contracts for the sale, transfer and partition of real estate: Referring to pledge of lien on real estate, or deeds or contracts for sale, exchange,
gratuitous transfer, or partition of real estate to be submitted to government agencies for registration.
Article 6
The following documents are exempted from the levy of stamp tax:
Contracts or deeds executed by all levels of government agencies and townships (at town, city and district levels).
Monetary receipts executed by public or private schools.
Deeds or documents executed by government-owned or private enterprises internally and not involved in rights or obligations with third parties,
including those issued for internal use between the head office and branches.
Debit notes sent out for claim of payments or audit purposes.
Duplicates or transcripts where a tax stamp has been affixed to the original document.
Bus tickets, train tickets, boat tickets, air tickets and other tickets for carriage of passengers or cargoes.
Receipts for the sale of self-grown agricultural products (including agriculture, forestry, fisheries and livestock) issued by farmer's associations or
wholesalers at the first wholesale level on behalf of farmers.
Receipts identifying payment of salaries or wages.
Receipts identifying payment of social benefits, payments to the family of a deceased person or pensions.
Receipts for taxes or donations to the government issued by collecting agencies.
Receipts issued by voluntary handlers of government grants at the time of reimbursement.
Receipts identifying tax returns.
Receipts issued for the sale of tax stamps.
Receipts for donations issued by corporate entities organized for educational, cultural, public/social welfare, or charitable purposes.
Receipts issued by the Agricultural Land and Water Association to its members for payment for irrigation services.
Contracts for the construction or repair of aircraft, ships or boats engaged in transnational transport.
Chapter III - Tax Rate or Tax Amount
Article 7
The stamp tax rates or amounts are as follows:
(deleted).
Monetary receipts: Tax stamps at 0.4% of the amount received to be affixed by the person drawing up the receipt. Receipts for deposit of bid
bonds: Tax stamps at 0.1% of the money deposited by the bidder to be affixed by the person drawing up the receipt.
Contracting agreements: Tax stamps at 0.1% of the contract price, to be affixed by the person executing the contract or drawing up the receipt.
Contracts for the sale, transfer, or partition of real estate: Tax stamps at 0.1% of the contract price, to be affixed by the person executing the
contract or drawing up the receipt.
Contracts for the sale of movables: Tax stamps at 4 yuan per piece, to be affixed by the person executing the contract or drawing up the receipt.
Chapter IV - Tax Return and Payment
Article 8
Documents subject to the levy of stamp tax shall be affixed with a sufficient amount of tax stamps at the time of delivery or use; in a case where
the tax amount due is so large that the affixation of tax stamps is inconvenient, the taxpayer may apply to the local tax authority for issuing a tax
payment notice and pay the tax accordingly.
Stamp tax to be paid on various documents executed by any publicly owned enterprise or private enterprise may, upon the approval of the local
tax authority, be paid by filing a collective tax return. The procedure for filing collective tax returns shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.
Article 9
Stamp tax shall be computed in common currency. For cases where stamp tax is paid by affixing tax stamps, the tax stamp is waived if the tax
amount for the case calculated by the applicable rate is less than one dollar of common currency, and waived for a portion of the tax amount that
is less than one dollar of common currency. For cases where stamp tax is paid by filing a collective tax return, tax is waived if the collective tax is
less than one dollar of common currency and waived for a portion of the tax amount that is less than one dollar of common currency.
Article 10
After affixing the tax stamps to the taxable document, the taxpayer should affix a seal over the edges of the stamps in order to cancel the stamps;
the aforesaid seal may be replaced by personal signature or mark. In case the tax stamps are connected to each other in a way that makes
affixing a seal over the edges of the stamps difficult, the taxpayer may affix a seal over the junctions of the tax stamps for cancellation purposes.
Article 11
Tax stamps that have been affixed and cancelled may not be removed for reuse.
Article 12
A taxable document shall have at least two copies, to be held each by the parties concerned or related parties, while each copy shall be affixed
with tax stamps respectively. The duplicates or transcripts of the same document shall be affixed with tax stamps, provided they are regarded the
same as the original.
Article 13
If the same document can be categorized under two types of document subject to the same tax rate, only tax stamps applicable to one type of
document are required; if the same document is subject to different tax rates, the higher rate shall govern.
Where a document subject to a higher tax rate is substituted by a document subject to a lower tax rate, the document shall be affixed with tax
stamps in the amount calculated at the higher tax rate.
Where a taxable document is substituted by a tax-exempt document, tax stamps corresponding to the type of the taxable document shall be
affixed.
Article 14
If the same activity produces two or more documents, each document shall be affixed with applicable tax stamps according to its type, unless
otherwise specified in this Act.
Article 15
A document that is soon to be expired as agreed by the parties concerned, but which will continue to be in use shall be affixed with additional tax
stamps.
Article 16
If a document has been affixed with tax stamps and continues to be in use after modification due to a change of circumstances, the changes shall
be affixed with additional tax stamps if applicable.
Article 17
If the amount of a taxable document is denominated in a foreign currency, it shall be, for the purpose of determining stamp tax, converted to the
national currency at the government-prescribed or approved exchange rate at the time of delivery or use.
Article 18
If a taxable document does not indicate a dollar amount, stamp tax shall be determined according to the products and quantity provided in the
document and the prevailing market prices of the products at the time of use.
Article 19
(deleted).
Article 20
Books and records for documenting the receipt of monetary payments shall be affixed with tax stamps for each transaction. In cases where the
payee of a monetary payment signs on the payment book of the payer in lieu of issuing a receipt, the payer will deduct the amount of stamp tax
from the payment and affix the same amount of tax stamps on the book on behalf of the payee.
In a transaction where a temporary receipt is issued before the delivery of a formal receipt, or a receipt is issued each time for an installment
payment before the issue of a gross receipt, such temporary receipts or installment receipts shall be affixed with a sufficient amount of tax
stamps. At the time a formal receipt or gross receipt is issued, the payee shall recover the receipts already issued and paste them to the back of
the formal or gross receipt, and affix additional tax stamps to make up the difference in stamp tax due, if any.
If the payee fails to paste the temporary receipt or installment receipts to the back of the formal receipt or gross receipt issued, he/she shall affix
tax stamps corresponding to the total amount indicated in the receipt.
Chapter V - Examination
Article 21
The examination of stamp tax shall be conducted by the agency in charge of stamp tax under the Ministry of Finance in accordance with the Tax
Collection Act; the examination rules shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Finance.
Article 22
Any person may report violation of this Act to the competent tax authority.
Chapter VI - Penalties
Article 23
Violation of Paragraph 1 of Article 8 or Articles 12 to 20 herein for failing to affix tax stamps required or affixing insufficient tax stamps shall be
subject to a fine at five to fifteen times the tax owed in addition to making up the tax stamps required.
Late payment of stamp tax in cases where collective payment applies shall be subject to the actions stipulated in Article 20 of the Tax Collection
Act; if the payment is more than thirty (30) days in arrears, the case shall be forwarded to the court for enforcement and the violator shall be
imposed a fine at one to five times the tax owed, depending on the severity of the violation.
Violation of Article 4 herein shall be subject to a fine of not more than 1,000 yuan, depending on the severity of the violation.
Article 24
Violation of Article 10 herein shall be subject to a fine at five to ten times the amount of tax stamps not cancelled or nullified as required,
depending on the severity of the violation.
Violation of Article 11 shall be subject to a fine at twenty to thirty times the amount of tax stamps removed for reuse, depending on the severity of
the violation.
Article 25
Persons who interfere with the authority's examination of stamp tax shall be subject to the actions provided in the Criminal Code with regard to
interference in a public function.
Article 26
In a case where a document violates two or more provisions provided herein, each violation will be ruled on separately and the resulting penalties
will be imposed collectively.
Article 27
(deleted).
Article 28
(deleted).
Article 29
Subsequent to the imposition of a penalty, taxpayers responsible in cases of violation involving a failure to pay stamp tax or the removal of tax
stamps for reuse shall make up the stamp tax required, and taxpayers responsible in cases of violation involving a failure to cancel or nullify tax
stamps as required shall make up the cancellation. Where the whereabouts of such taxpayers are unknown, the document user or holder shall be
responsible for complying with the preceding provisions.
Chapter VII - Other Provisions
Article 30
The enforcement rules of this Act shall be drawn up by the Ministry of Finance, subject to the approval of the Executive Yuan.
Article 31
This Act shall be implemented upon promulgation.
The date of implementation for amendment to the clauses of this Act shall be set by the decree of the Executive Yuan.