How Is the Overseas Shopping Duty-Free Allowance Calculated? The NT$2,000 Threshold, 6 Times per Half-Year, and How to Pay Tax
- Tax-free threshold: a dutiable value (goods + international shipping and loading, unloading and handling charges + insurance) ≤ NT$2,000 is exempt from import duty, commodity tax, and business tax (except tobacco, alcohol, and agricultural products under tariff-rate quotas).
- 6 times per half-year: when the same taxpayer (for postal parcels, the same recipient) has been released under the duty-exemption rule more than 6 times within a half-year (1/1–6/30, 7/1–12/31), the exemption no longer applies from the 7th time; the count is determined by the import date stated on the declaration, and once the limit is exceeded, tax is charged even if a single shipment is under NT$2,000.
- How many times a year: exemption counts are calculated separately for the first and second half-years, with a maximum of 6 per half-year; they reset on January 1 and July 1, and unused counts from the first half do not carry over to the second half.
- Above the allowance: duty = dutiable value × rate; business tax = (dutiable value + duty + commodity tax, etc.) × 5%.
- You can check it yourself: log in to the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window (a Citizen Digital Certificate or business certificate is required) and use “Frequent import data inquiry” to see how many duty-free releases you have already used in the current period.
- The key is to declare truthfully. If Customs has reasonable doubt about the declared price, it may assess the value separately; under Article 37 of the Customs Anti-Smuggling Act, understating value may be punished with a fine of up to five times the import tax evaded, or confiscation of the goods.
Sources: Ministry of Finance, Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Finance Taxation Administration website (see references at the end)
Last updated: 2026-10-12 (the 6-times-per-half-year rule, the count inquiry and the dutiable value explanation were updated according to the Ministry of Finance guidance and the original legal text)
NT$2,000 Duty-Free Threshold
Imported goods with a customs value of NT$2,000 or less are exempt from customs duty, commodity tax, and VAT, except for tobacco, alcohol, and agricultural products subject to tariff-rate quotas. Customs value is not based only on the listed price of the goods. It is the total of the “goods price + international shipping (including loading, unloading and handling charges) + insurance” (Customs Act Article 29)—a detail many shoppers overlook.
A Common Miscalculation
An item priced at NT$1,850 may appear to qualify for the exemption, but after adding NT$250 in international shipping, its customs value is NT$2,100. It has exceeded the threshold and is therefore subject to customs duty and 5% VAT. Always include shipping when estimating taxes.
How is the 6-times-per-half-year duty exemption calculated? (often overlooked)
Attention, Frequent Online Shoppers
For express and general import cargo the count is per same taxpayer, and for postal parcels per same recipient; if more than 6 releases under the low-value duty-exemption rule occur within a half-year (first half 1/1–6/30, second half 7/1–12/31), the exemption no longer applies from the 7th time, and tax is charged even if a single shipment is under NT$2,000. The number of imports is determined by the import date stated on the declaration and is recalculated every year on 1/1 and 7/1 (legal basis: Article 49 of the Customs Act, paragraph 2 proviso, with paragraph 3 authorising the Ministry of Finance to determine; for postal parcels see also Article 12 of the Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Postal Parcels).
People who often buy small items can easily exceed the count without noticing. You can plan combined shipments to reduce the number of imports (consolidation already saves shipping costs and also helps control the count). According to a Liberty Times report of 26 August 2020 quoting Customs Administration statistics, between 1 July and 23 August 2020, 126,000 people had accumulated 6 duty-free low-value parcel imports, the limit (2020 data, not the current situation).
HowBridge measured data: how many times does the same declarant clear customs through us within a half-year?
According to HowBridge's declaration records from 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30 (half-year start date to statistics end date), among 169 declarants (547 Sea Express house bills in total), 59.8% declared only once, and the median count is 1; 9.5% have accumulated 6 declarations, of whom 6.5% have gone past 6. If your first 6 all qualified for the low-value duty exemption, the exemption no longer applies from the 7th.
- Declared only once: 59.8% (101 declarants)
- 2–5 times: 30.8%
- Exactly 6 times: 3.0%
- 7 times or more: 6.5% (11 declarants)
- 90% of declarants are at 5 times or fewer
Method: count = the number of Sea Express house bills cleared through HowBridge for the same declarant (ID number / business tax ID), attributed by the date Customs received and registered the declaration as returned by the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window; it does not matter whether that import qualified for the exemption, and it excludes imports you made through other providers or by postal parcel, so check the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window for your own remaining count. Test accounts and house bills matched to more than one declarant are excluded; the second half-year has not ended, so the percentages will change as imports increase before year-end. Sample: 169 declarants, verified on 2026-10-12, recalculated monthly.
How Many Times a Year Can You Use the Tax-Free Allowance on Overseas Purchases?
The duty-free count for overseas shopping is calculated per half-year, not as an annual allowance: January–June and July–December are each one half-year, and the same person can be released under the NT$2,000 low-value duty exemption at most 6 times in each half-year, with tax charged from the 7th time; the count resets on January 1 and July 1, and unused counts from the first half do not carry over to the second half.
Official guidance only specifies “6 times per half-year” and has no annual-allowance design; when planning across half-years, use the two reset points of 1/1 and 7/1. Who is counted differs by channel: postal parcels are counted by “the same recipient” under Article 12 of the Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Postal Parcels, while express and general import cargo are counted by “the same taxpayer” (Customs Act Article 49, paragraph 2 proviso and paragraph 3; Ministry of Finance Taxation Portal, “Points to note when buying goods from abroad online”). If the same person imports both by postal parcel and by express, check each separately.
How is customs duty calculated after the 6th time?
From the 7th time within a half-year, the NT$2,000 low-value duty exemption no longer applies and ordinary import taxation applies: business tax is a flat 5%; customs duty is calculated at the rate of the product’s 11-digit tariff code (goods with a 0% rate pay only the 5% business tax); taxable goods also bear commodity tax; the trade promotion service fee is 0.04% and is waived if it does not exceed NT$100. Hypothetical example: dutiable value NT$1,500, duty rate 0%, not a commodity-tax item, business tax is NT$75.
How it is calculated after 6 times: key figures (quotable)
| Scenario | Dutiable value | Result | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd import in the half-year | NT$1,800 (freight included) | Duty-free | Not over NT$2,000, not over 6 times |
| 3rd import in the half-year | Listed price NT$1,850 + freight NT$250 = NT$2,100 | Customs duty + 5% business tax | The dutiable value includes freight and is already over the threshold |
| 7th import in the half-year | NT$1,500 (assuming 0% duty rate, not a commodity-tax item) | Customs duty 0, business tax NT$75 | Over 6 times, low-value exemption does not apply |
| Trade promotion service fee | Dutiable value × 0.04% | Waived if the amount does not exceed NT$100 | Ministry of Economic Affairs announcement dated 2 February 2024, Economic Trade No. 11350200210 (Annex, item 8); rate per the Customs Administration page “What taxes and fees are payable on imported goods?” |
| 1st time after 1/1 or 7/1 | — | The count starts again | Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance guidance of 2024-10-01 (based on the import date stated on the declaration; recalculated on 1/1 and 7/1) |
The figures NT$1,500, NT$1,800, and listed price NT$1,850 + freight NT$250 in the table are illustrative numbers for calculation, not HowBridge’s actual freight; the actual duty rate depends on the product’s tariff code, and you can first use the Smart Tariff Search. Business tax is based on “dutiable value + customs duty + commodity tax”, so for goods whose duty rate is not 0%, the business tax rises accordingly.
How do I check how many duty-free times I have left in the half-year?
Log in to the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window (a Citizen Digital Certificate or business certificate is required), then go through “Customs Clearance Services (certificate required) / Certificate Clearance Services / Certificate Inquiry Services” to “Frequent Import Data Inquiry (GB377)”. It shows how many imports in the current period were released under the low-value duty exemption, so you can work out how many remain (the limit is 6 per half-year). The Customs Administration has offered this inquiry on the Single Window since 1 July 2020; for the menu path and operation code, see the Customs Administration press release of 2020-08-25, “Customs offers a frequent-import inquiry service and urges importers to make good use of it!” (see also Liberty Times 2020-08-26, quoting the Customs Administration); the Ministry of Finance guidance of 2024-10-01 also states that the public can use the Single Window to check the low-value duty-exemption count. For help with the operation, contact the Single Window service center at 0800-299-889 or (02)2550-6409. Checking before you order means you will not discover on the 7th import that tax is charged. For individual import simplified-declaration express cargo handled through real-name online mandate, from 1 March 2026 you must also complete the advance mandate confirmation in EZ WAY first; for how to obtain proof of tax payment after being taxed, see the customs tax bill explanation.
💡 Practical tip: When you are approaching the limit, combine several small orders into a single shipment. This saves on international shipping and uses only one duty-free import allowance.
How are customs duty and business tax calculated above the exemption threshold?
The duty rate of each product depends on the 11-digit code of the Customs import tariff; please go by the tariff inquiry result. Goods with a 0% duty rate pay no customs duty, but when they lose the exemption they still pay 5% business tax. You can use the Smart Tariff Search to enter a product and find its tariff code and rate, or use the import tax calculator to estimate the total landed cost directly. The formulas for each tax and fee are on the Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance page “What taxes and fees are payable on imported goods?”. In the customs-practice calculation article by He Yi-hsing, industry consultant of the Taipei Importers & Exporters Association, published in Trade Magazine No. 408 (June 2025), it is pointed out that Taiwan, like most countries worldwide, uses the CIF price as the tax basis; in its worked example, customs duty is calculated first, then commodity tax, and finally business tax, so the tax base builds up layer by layer and the product price cannot simply be multiplied by each rate independently.
How is the dutiable value determined? What happens if I declare too low?
The dutiable value is based on the transaction price actually paid or payable, plus freight to the port of entry, loading, unloading and handling charges, and insurance (Customs Act Article 29). When Customs has reasonable doubt about the authenticity of the transaction documents and the taxpayer’s explanation still cannot dispel it, it may reject the declared price and assess the value in turn by identical goods (Article 31), similar goods (Article 32), domestic sales price (Article 33), or computed value (Article 34), and only last the reasonable methods of Article 35; the order of the domestic sales price method and the computed value method may be reversed at the taxpayer’s request (Article 33). Understating the value of goods falls under Article 37 of the Customs Anti-Smuggling Act, paragraph 1, subparagraph 2: “depending on the seriousness of the case, a fine of up to five times the import tax evaded may be imposed, or the goods may be confiscated or confiscated together”; it applies to the person who has the goods imported, and also to individual online purchases. Please declare truthfully and keep your order and payment proof. A 2012 master’s thesis of the Department of Statistics, National Taipei University, using K-Means cluster analysis, showed empirically that the dutiable value of identical imported goods need not match the country of origin one to one, but can be grouped by similar attributes and share an average unit price, and also explained that in practice Article 35 is mostly used for assessment.
New Cross-Border E-Commerce Tax Rules (For Businesses)
Cross-border electronic services—electronic services sold by offshore e-commerce businesses to individuals in Taiwan—have been subject to VAT since 1 May 2017. Under the Regulations Governing the Business Tax on Cross-Border Electronic Services Transactions (跨境電子勞務交易課徵營業稅規範), an offshore e-commerce operator with annual sales exceeding the threshold set by the Ministry of Finance must complete tax registration and pay VAT in accordance with Article 28-1 of the Value-Added and Non-Value-Added Business Tax Act and the tax registration rules.
※ These taxes apply to businesses. For individual consumers, the main considerations remain the duty-free allowance at import, the six-times-per-half-year limit, and accurate declaration.
What You Need to Know
6 correct ideas
- The exemption is based on dutiable value：It includes shipping and insurance, not just the product's list price.
- Frequency limits：The “6 times per half-year” rule counts the number of releases “under the duty-free rule”. You can check your remaining count on the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window first.
- Splitting orders won't make them tax-free：For express, goods from “the same shipper, the same flight (voyage), the same consignee” are one batch, and the operator may not declare them separately (Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Air Express Consignments, Article 14); for postal parcels, two or more items from “the same sender, the same arrival date, the same recipient” have their dutiable values added together (Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Postal Parcels, Article 11). Items sent on different days or different flights are not aggregated, but each one still counts toward the 6 times per half-year.
- Who pays the tax：When the dutiable value of a postal parcel exceeds NT$2,000, Customs issues a small-parcel import tax payment certificate and the post office collects the tax on delivery; for express, the express operator declares in the name of the goods holder and pays the taxes and fees, then collects them from you (Postal Parcel Regulations Article 10, Air Express Regulations Article 18).
- Declare truthfully：Don't under-declare; Customs may reassess the value, and false declarations are penalized.
- Estimate taxes first：Use the smart tariff lookup or calculator to estimate in advance so you aren't surprised when the parcel arrives.
Definitions
- Dutiable value
- The pricing basis on which Customs levies tax: the price of the goods + international freight (including loading, unloading and handling charges) + insurance (Customs Act Article 29); the NT$2,000 duty-free threshold for overseas shopping is judged by the dutiable value.
- Limit of 6 duty-free releases per half-year
- When the same taxpayer (for postal parcels, the same recipient) has been released under the duty-exemption rule more than 6 times within a half-year (1/1–6/30, 7/1–12/31), the low-value exemption no longer applies from the 7th time; the count restarts on 1/1 and 7/1.
- Frequent Import Data Inquiry (GB377)
- An inquiry function in the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window under “Customs Clearance Services (certificate required) / Certificate Clearance Services / Certificate Inquiry Services”, operation code GB377. You must log in with a Citizen Digital Certificate or a business certificate, and it shows how many imports in the current period were released under the low-value duty exemption (Customs Administration press release of 2020-08-25).
- Trade promotion service fee
- An import fee collected by Customs on its behalf, charged at 0.04% of the dutiable value; it is waived if the amount payable does not exceed NT$100.
- Same-batch aggregation
- Express: goods sent by the same shipper on the same flight (voyage) to the same consignee are one batch, and the operator may not declare them separately (Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Air Express Consignments, Article 14). Postal parcels: two or more items sent by the same sender on the same arrival date to the same recipient have their dutiable values added together (Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Postal Parcels, Article 11).
For more consolidation and customs terms, see the cross-border consolidation customs glossary (definitions of tariff, clearance and EZ WAY terms); for the complete import process and tax explanation, see the complete guide to Taiwan import customs clearance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Reading
- Complete Guide to Taiwan Import Duties
- Quick Guide to the Personal-Use Duty-Free Allowance
- Complete Import Tax and Fee Calculator
- How to Spot Customs Scam Text Messages
- Complete Beginner's Guide to Parcel Consolidation in Taiwan
- EZWay Identity Verification Guide
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