📄 Documents and customs for shipping in Taiwan
Taiwan is non-EU: every shipment must pass through the Taiwanese Customs Administration. They are required:
- sender's identity document (required by some couriers)
- commercial invoice or proforma (in English)
- detailed description of the goods (NO “gift”)
- free export declaration
- possible EORI for corporate shipments
Duties and de minimis threshold
Shipments with a declared value of less than NT$ 2,000 (approx. €58) are generally exempt from customs duties. Above this threshold, variable duties per product category plus the Taiwanese VAT (Business Tax) of 5%.
For commercial shipments to Taiwan, please check the customs code of your goods: 📋 What is the TARIC code and how to find it
💡 Shipping TipsComfortableAlways state the type of product, quantity, actual value and country of origin on every invoice. Taiwanese customs is particularly careful with technological and electronic products - generic descriptions such as “electronics” may cause additional inspections.
🚫 Avoid generic descriptions such as:
- “gift”
- “electronics”
- “personal items”
✅ Instead, use detailed descriptions, for example:
- “Men's cotton T-shirt - 3 pieces - value €45 - made in Italy”.”
- “Leather shoes - 1 pair - value €120 - made in Italy”.”
- “Mechanical steel components - 5 pieces - value €200 - industrial use”.”
- “Paper documents without commercial value”
What you can and cannot send a Taiwan?
Singapore applies strict rules on some specific categories:
🚫 Banned or severely restricted products:
- Narcotics and psychotropic substances
- Firearms, ammunition and explosives
- Copyright and trademark infringing material
- Meat and products of animal origin without health certification
- Fresh plants, seeds and plant products without phytosanitary certification
- Prescription drugs without medical documentation
🍷 Wine and spirits: permitted for personal use within the permitted thresholds. Commercial importation requires a specific licence.
🍝 Packaged foods: industrially packaged pasta, oil, biscuits and canned goods are generally allowed in small quantities for personal use with a customs declaration.