Stamp tax is a kind of document tax. There are a great variety of documents, but not all documents require affixing a tax stamp; only documents specified in the tax laws require stamp tax. Apart from affixing a tax stamp to each document, the tax may also be paid by using the Large Sum Stamp Tax Statement Application form, with the tax amount calculated on a document-by-document basis or a collective basis.
- Scope of Taxable Documents
- Receipts for monetary payments: referring to documents, books or records drawn upon the receipt of money.
- Deeds for sale of movables: referring to deed receipts issued for sale of movables, such as automobiles, commodities, raw materials, etc.
- Contracting agreements: referring to agreements executed for the completion of a specifically ordered task, e.g. construction contracts.
- Contracts for the sale, transfer and partition of real estate: referring to documents to be submitted to the land administration authority for application for property right registration.
- Taxpayers and Tax Rates (Tax Amounts)
- Monetary receipts: 4/1000 of the amount on monetary receipts and 1/1000 of the amount on receipts for deposit of bid bonds, and tax stamps shall be affixed by the person who draws up the receipt.
- Deeds for sale of movables: NT$12 per case, and tax stamps shall be affixed by the contracting parties or the person who draws up the deed.
- Contracting agreements – the contracting parties or the person who draws up the agreement shall be the taxpayer(s), who shall affix the tax stamp at 1/1000 of the amount on the agreement at the time of delivery or use.
- Contracts for the sale, transfer and partition of real estate: 1/1000 per case of the amount on the contract, and tax stamps shall be affixed by the contracting parties or the person who draws up the contract.
- Affixing tax stamps
(1)
Tax stamps of different denominations ($1, $3, $4, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $200) are available from post offices. Tax stamps shall be affixed to the taxable documents and stamp-cancelling seals shall be affixed over the edges of each stamp and of the document pages; the aforesaid seals may be replaced by personal signatures or marks, but tax stamps shall not be cancelled with a pencil (it may fail to serve the cancellation purpose by being easily erasable). In addition, if 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.
If the tax stamp is affixed on an additional page, the edge seal shall be affixed over the connecting edges of the stamp page and the original document to make it a legally recognized cancellation of the stamp.
(2)
Lump-sum stamps can also be affixed, with the tax amount to be calculated on a document-by-document basis and rounded up to the nearest dollar. Tax stamps are waived for a portion of a tax amount that is less than one dollar.
2.Using tax notices
(1)
Application
If 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 or apply for printing the tax notice by himself or herself through the online local tax declaration system and affix the “proof of payment” on the document after making the payment.
(2)
Collective payment
Public or private corporations, cram schools or other enterprises that draw up numerous taxable documents, making it inconvenient to affix and cancel tax stamps one by one, may apply to the local tax authority for filing periodic collective tax returns. Once approved for making collective payment, taxpayers shall file the tax returns once every two months before the 15th day of January, March, May, July, September, and November by calculating the stamp tax amounts payable and withheld and completing the Periodic Stamp Tax Payment Application form. Application shall be submitted to the local revenue service office where the entity is located, and payment shall be made by presenting the tax notice. Application may also be made for using the online local tax declaration system, where taxpayers may file online tax returns before the 17th day of the abovementioned months and print the tax notices by themselves for making payments.
For approved collective payment of stamp tax, the lump-sum tax amount shall be calculated to the nearest dollar. Tax is waived for a portion of a tax amount that is less than one dollar.
- Documents subject to stamp tax shall be affixed with a sufficient amount of tax stamps at the time of delivery or use or have the stamp tax paid by means of a tax notice before the date specified on the tax bill.