Overseas: How Do You Send a Gift from China to a Friend in Taiwan?
Can I send a gift from China to a friend in Taiwan while I am overseas?
Yes, but receipt and customs declaration must be in your Taiwan friend's name. If the gift is bought on a mainland Chinese platform such as Taobao or Tmall, enter the HowBridge Shenzhen consolidation warehouse as the delivery address. If you buy from a Chinese seller on eBay, whether the Shenzhen warehouse can be used as the delivery address depends on the seller's shipping settings; eBay has no official written rule, so try it on the checkout page, and you cannot change the address yourself after payment. Under the eBay Money Back Guarantee policy, when a buyer uses third-party freight forwarding, both "item not received" and "item not as described" are not covered. Your Taiwan friend is the consignee and also the legal taxpayer (person liable for duty) (Customs Act Article 6), and must provide a name, address and ID number (or a real-name-verified phone number) for the declaration and complete the entrustment before customs declaration. When HowBridge clears customs with a simplified declaration, the usual method is EZ WAY real-name verification. Gifts get no separate duty exemption: only a same-batch dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less is exempt, anything above is taxed on the whole amount, the exemption no longer applies after more than 6 times in a half-year period, and the count is kept under your friend's name. A plush toy falls under tariff code 9503.00.61.00-0 with a 0% duty, but plush toys designed for children aged 14 or under are within the toys subject to mandatory BSMI inspection; personal-use items have an inspection exemption (whether gifts sent by relatives or friends overseas qualify is not stated in any official written rule), so ask customer service before shipping. HowBridge only handles mainland China → Taiwan, and does not purchase on your behalf or pay sellers for you.
HowBridge only provides mainland China → Taiwan freight forwarding: goods are sent to the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse, combined into one box once they all arrive, and then sent to your friend's address in Taiwan. HowBridge does not purchase on your behalf and does not pay sellers for you; you place the order and pay on the store yourself. HowBridge has no warehouses in other countries and does not offer shipping to Taiwan from the United States, Japan, Europe or other places, so gifts from sellers outside China cannot be carried through this site. HowBridge's only warehouses are the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse and the Taoyuan Dayuan operations warehouse.
Can Chinese sellers on eBay ship to the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse?
The short answer: it depends on the seller, and nobody can guarantee it before checkout. eBay has a cross-border shipping policy for sellers whose item location is mainland China: the policy title refers to cross-border transactions, and its tracking-number rule applies to all transactions where the item location is in Greater China; how transactions shipped to addresses inside China are handled is not stated in the policy. The table below is the official eBay text we read:
| Item | What eBay officially says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| How Chinese sellers ship | Items located in mainland China above a certain value must use SpeedPAK or an eBay-approved carrier; tracking numbers must be uploaded for all Greater China shipments | The seller may only have set up cross-border shipping, so shipping to an address inside China may not be in their settings |
| Regions a seller can exclude | A seller can set countries or regions as "do not ship to" for all listings or for individual listings | If the seller excludes China, you may not be able to check out with the Shenzhen warehouse address |
| Changing the address at checkout | At checkout you can choose another address or add a new one | Add the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse address on the checkout page and see whether you can place the order |
| Changing the address after payment | After payment you cannot change the address yourself, and the seller generally cannot either; before dispatch, ask the seller to cancel and then place the order again | The address must be correct before you pay |
| SpeedPAK to Taiwan | The official service table lists only the United States, Europe, Australia and Canada; Taiwan is not in the table | Do not assume SpeedPAK can always ship directly to Taiwan |
A seller shipping directly to Taiwan is also an option
If the seller's listing already ships to Taiwan, entering your Taiwan friend's address directly may be simpler, and in that case the parcel does not go through HowBridge. The seller chooses the carrier; if it comes in by express, your Taiwan friend still has to complete real-name verification or entrustment, and the duty rules are the same as on this page.
What if the seller is outside China?
HowBridge only accepts parcels sent from inside mainland China to the Shenzhen warehouse. For eBay sellers in the United States, Canada and elsewhere, see How to ship from overseas auction sites to Taiwan; those routes do not go through this site.
In both the "item not received" and "item not as described" sections, the eBay Money Back Guarantee policy lists a buyer's use of third-party freight forwarding or mail redirection as not covered. The seller must deliver the item to the address on the order; once tracking shows delivery to the Shenzhen warehouse, eBay may close the case automatically, and the onward leg is handled under the HowBridge terms of service; if your friend unpacks in Taiwan and finds the item does not match the description, the original text likewise gives no coverage. For valuable gifts, consider asking the seller to ship directly to Taiwan.
eBay does not allow offers to buy or sell outside eBay, and only the payment methods offered on the eBay checkout page may be used. Asking a seller to "reship privately" or to accept "payment outside eBay" may cost you platform protection.
The gift is on Taobao, Tmall or another Chinese platform. How do I ship it?
On mainland Chinese platforms such as Taobao, Tmall and Pinduoduo, sellers shipping to addresses inside China is the norm, so just enter the HowBridge Shenzhen consolidation warehouse as the delivery address, which is simpler than eBay. Taobao Global's core sites include Taiwan, and overseas shoppers can switch country or region in the Taobao mobile app; the platform's own official direct-mail rules were not found in the original text on this page, and we make no promise on the platform's behalf.
How to fill in the recipient details
Fill in the recipient and address exactly as the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse details shown in the member center, and include your member ID so the warehouse can match the parcel to your account. For Taobao order details, see Taobao freight forwarding to Taiwan.
Gift wrapping and gift cards
No "this is a gift" checkbox or card feature was found in eBay's official materials; for Chinese platforms, put gift-wrapping requests in the store's order note. Whether the original packaging and card are kept when boxes are combined, ask customer service before creating the consolidation order.
Price and invoice
This gift is bought from the seller, so the declaration is based on the actual transaction price; keep the order screenshot and payment record. The declared amount that the Customs Administration pushes to the consignee for confirmation is the purchase amount plus shipping.
What declarant details does my Taiwan friend need to provide?
For express imports, your Taiwan friend is the consignee, and the customs data is declared in their name. The following uses air express as the example and sets out the Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Air Express Cargo (ID and resident certificate numbers are personal data, so provide them only after your friend personally agrees; for sea express and sea LCL cargo clearance, ask customer service):
| Data | Description | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Name | The name exactly as on the ID document | Article 18, paragraph 2 |
| Delivery address | The delivery address in Taiwan | Article 18, paragraph 2 |
| ID number | Low-value dutiable and high-value express cargo must declare the National ID number; foreign nationals enter the Resident Certificate (ARC) Unified ID number (the new format is one letter plus nine digits), or may enter the passport number | Article 18, paragraph 2 |
| Real-name-verified phone number (substitute for the ID number) | Where the consignee's real-name-verified mobile number is declared on a simplified declaration, the ID number need not be declared; this is an alternative, not a separate required item | Article 18, paragraph 3 |
| Customs-broker authorization (entrustment) | Done in writing, through the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window, or online through the real-name verification platform, pick one of the three; if it is not completed, Customs may refuse to accept the declaration | Article 17 |
Who can register for EZ WAY?
The Customs Administration states that real-name verification applies to citizens of the Republic of China and foreign nationals holding a resident certificate; foreign nationals register with the resident certificate and must upload photos of the front and back of the resident certificate IC card, and telecom verification only accepts numbers from the 5 major telecom operators. For people with only a passport and no resident certificate, no official app registration channel is listed, and they can switch to a paper authorization form. See the EZ WAY tutorial and How foreigners do EZ WAY real-name verification.
What do you need to do as the overseas gift-giver?
An overseas gift-giver is not the consignee, does not need to register for EZ WAY, and does not have to give your own ID to Taiwan Customs. What you do is place the order on the store, enter the Shenzhen warehouse address correctly, and give the parcel's tracking number to the member account in charge of the freight forwarding.
What happens if my friend does not complete the entrustment?
The Customs Administration states that when the customs broker has not obtained the importer's entrustment document and the importer has not completed real-name verification, Customs does not accept the declaration until it is corrected. The parcel will be stuck at the clearance stage, so ask your friend to prepare before shipment.
Who registers as a member? Who pays the shipping?
A HowBridge member can register multiple declarants and recipients in the member center, so there are two ways to do it:
| Approach | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Your Taiwan friend registers | Your friend registers as a member, and is both the declarant and the recipient; you enter the Shenzhen warehouse address and their member ID on the store | You want your friend to track the parcel and complete the entrustment themselves |
| You register and add your friend's details | You register as a member (the phone number can be in international format), add your friend as declarant and recipient in the member center, and select your friend's set when shipping | You pay the shipping, but your friend still has to provide the declaration details and the entrustment |
Can I pay the shipping with an overseas credit card?
Yes. HowBridge bills accept credit cards (including cards issued abroad), always settled in New Taiwan dollars, along with Apple Pay, Google Pay, LINE Pay, ATM and other methods. HowBridge only collects freight-forwarding-related fees and does not pay the store's goods payment on your behalf.
Who pays the duties?
Import duties are collected by Customs on the government's behalf, and the legal taxpayer (person liable for duty) is the consignee, which is your Taiwan friend (Customs Act Article 6, Value-added and Non-value-added Business Tax Act Article 2), regardless of whether they paid for the gift. You may cover the cost privately, but that does not change who the taxpayer is.
Do not collect and forward money for others
For a single advance payment of duties on a gift you are receiving for yourself, no official interpretation treating it as remittance was found (not found on this page); but repeatedly collecting money in Taiwan on behalf of others and forwarding it abroad may fall under Banking Act Article 29, "no one other than a bank may conduct domestic or foreign remittance business", and violators are subject under Article 125 to imprisonment of 3 years or more and 10 years or less.
Do gifts get taxed too? How does the NT$2,000 threshold work?
Yes. Neither the duty-free goods listed in the Customs Act nor the express and postal clearance regulations contain a duty exemption item for private gifts. Of the duty-free goods listed in Customs Act Article 49, paragraph 1, the only ones related to donations are relief supplies, medals and badges presented by foreign governments or organizations, and epidemic-prevention and disaster-relief items donated to government agencies. A private gift is treated like any other online purchase and depends on the same-batch dutiable value:
| Same-batch dutiable value | Express declaration category | Duties and taxes |
|---|---|---|
| NT$2,000 or less | Low-value duty-free express cargo | Exempt from customs duty, business tax and commodity tax; but not applicable to tobacco and alcohol, agricultural products under tariff-rate quotas, or the same taxpayer (person liable for duty) after more than 6 times in a half-year period |
| NT$2,001–50,000 | Low-value dutiable express cargo | Taxed at the applicable rate on the whole amount, not only on the part above the threshold (the Customs Administration writes "2 thousand dollars or less is exempt", and the postal parcel regulations explicitly say the full amount is taxed) |
| Over NT$50,000 | High-value express cargo | Taxed under the general rules |
How the dutiable value is calculated
Customs Act Article 29: the transaction price is the basis, plus freight and insurance up to the Taiwan port of entry; the declared amount that the Customs Administration pushes to the consignee for confirmation is "purchase amount + shipping". Even though it is a gift, its value must still be declared; for a gift bought from a seller, the actual transaction price is used. Even a truly gratuitous non-commercial transaction with no invoice must attach a value declaration document signed by the consignor (Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Air Express Cargo Article 10).
Duty and tax formulas
The Customs Administration explains: customs duty = dutiable value × tax rate; business tax = (dutiable value + customs duty + commodity tax, etc.) × 5%, collected by Customs; the trade promotion service fee is dutiable value × 0.04%, waived at NT$100 or less (Foreign Trade Act Article 21-1 sets a rate ceiling of 0.0425%). For a plush toy the customs duty is 0%, so when the dutiable value exceeds NT$2,000, the main charge is the 5% business tax.
Whose count is the 6 times in a half-year period?
It is counted under your Taiwan friend's name. The Customs Administration's original wording is that "the same taxpayer who has been released under the duty exemption more than 6 times within a half-year period" is no longer exempt, with the half-year period meaning months 1 to 6 and months 7 to 12 (January–June and July–December); express parcels your friend buys for themselves are counted together.
Do not split orders and do not under-declare
Express carriers may not split the same batch of goods into separate declarations (Article 14), and the HowBridge shipping rates page also states that goods in the same batch may not be split to avoid tax. A World Customs Organization report notes that some customs administrations reported ordinary sales being labeled as "gifts" by senders; honest declaration is the least trouble.
Do I need to watch out for toy inspection when the gift is a plush toy?
Yes. Plush toys are among the most common gifts, and the tariff code and import rules are as follows:
| 11-digit tariff code | Official goods description | Column 1 duty | Import rule |
|---|---|---|---|
9503.00.61.00-0 | Toys representing animals or non-human creatures, stuffed (stuffed animals) | 0% | C02 |
9503.00.21.00-9 | Dolls, whether or not dressed (human-form) | 0% | C02 |
Personal-use items can be inspection-exempt
Regulations Governing Exemption from Commodity Inspection Article 5: for non-sale personal-use toys, if the same declaration has the same specification and model at US$1,000 or less and not more than 5 items, or above US$1,000 but only 1 item, inspection exemption is granted, with the amount measured at CIF; for the same specification and model, exemption is limited to one time within 6 months. Those who qualify can enter the inspection-exemption clearance code CI000000000005 on the declaration.
How does HowBridge clear toys through customs?
In practice, HowBridge clears toys with a simplified declaration + EZ WAY entrustment (switching to a formal customs declaration costs an extra customs-brokerage fee), provided they meet the personal-use inspection exemption rules: for the same specification and model, US$1,000 or less and not more than 5 items, limited to once within 6 months; anything beyond that cannot be shipped this way. BSMI's Q&A on commodity inspection exemption, however, separately states that express imports of goods subject to mandatory inspection should be declared on a formal import declaration; the actual clearance method is as determined by the customs broker and Customs, so ask customer service before shipping.
Your friend should not pass it on or resell it after receiving it
Inspection exemption is for "non-sale personal-use items". Before an exempted item is turned into one for sale, it must first go through inspection (Regulations Governing Exemption from Commodity Inspection Articles 16 and 17); the BSMI Q&A states that personal-use items cannot be used as gifts, and changing to a gift requires separate procedures under the rules. Whether this restriction applies when the item is sent as a gift from overseas and your friend keeps it for their own use, no official written explanation was found, and it is not found on this page.
More toy rules
For goods that look like toys but are regulated differently, such as remote-control toys, body pillows and cosplay costumes, see Toys from China to Taiwan: inspection, exemption and restrictions. For violating inspection rules, the fine for the party obliged to apply for inspection is NT$200,000 to NT$2,000,000, and where the total goods value is under NT$100,000, a fine of up to 2 times the total value may be imposed, with a minimum of NT$10,000 (Commodity Inspection Act Articles 60 and 60-1).
Neither code carries MW0 or MP1, so toys made in mainland China are permitted for import, and 9503 cannot be found in the International Trade Administration's summary table of mainland goods not permitted for import. But C02 means that some goods under the code are subject to mandatory BSMI inspection: under the BSMI Toy Product Classification Principles, goods designed for children aged 14 or under and having play value are toys subject to mandatory inspection, and the principles give plush toys as exactly such an example; decorative goods and goods meant for adult collectors are not toys.
How is gift shipping calculated? Which method for a plush toy?
Rates follow the HowBridge shipping rates page. Plush toys are bulky and light, so the billing method makes a big difference:
| Method | Rate and billing | Transit time |
|---|---|---|
| Air freight | NT$100/kg, actual weight only, volume is not counted; an extra NT$120 if actual weight is under 10 kg | 3–5 working days |
| Sea express | NT$50 per unit, where the unit is the greater of actual weight (kg) and volumetric weight (L×W×H cm÷10000); an extra NT$100 if under 10 kg | 5–10 working days |
| Sea LCL cargo (rates vary by goods; ask customer service for a quote) | From NT$25 per kg, or from NT$150 per volume unit; volume unit = L×W×H (cm)÷28316 | 7–14 working days |
Fluffy gifts: look at air freight
Air freight does not count volume: a big plush bear may weigh only 1 to 2 kilograms but take up a lot of space; the same box by sea express would be pushed up by volumetric weight. Before ordering, ask the seller for simple packaging, and decide after arrival at the warehouse based on the weight and size the warehouse measures.
Combining boxes and storage
Combining and packing is free, and several gifts can wait until all arrive and then ship together; reinforced packing for fragile items is also free (see the shipping rates page).
Loss and complaints
HowBridge terms of service: no declared-value insurance is offered, a lost parcel is compensated at up to three times that parcel's shipping fee, and complaints must be filed within 7 days of signing for it. For valuable gifts, assess the risk before deciding whether to ship.
From placing the order to your friend receiving it, what is the full process?
The following 6 steps apply to gifts ordered from a Chinese seller, sent to the HowBridge Shenzhen warehouse, and then delivered to your friend in Taiwan.
1Decide who registers as a member
Either your Taiwan friend registers, or you register and add your friend as declarant and recipient in the member center.
2Your friend prepares declaration details and entrustment
Your friend prepares a name, address, and National ID number or Resident Certificate (ARC) Unified ID number. Complete EZ WAY real-name verification; foreign nationals without a resident certificate use a paper authorization form.
3Confirm the delivery address before ordering
For Chinese platforms, enter the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse address and your member ID directly; on eBay, add the Shenzhen warehouse address on the checkout page, confirm that the order can be placed before paying, and note that it cannot be changed after payment.
4Ask customer service first about toys and special goods
Toys must meet the personal-use inspection exemption: same specification and model, US$1,000 or less and not more than 5 items; for other toys, see the note on toys from China to Taiwan, and ask customer service before shipping.
5Create a consolidation order after the parcel arrives at the warehouse
Register the tracking number the seller gives you to your member account; once all parcels arrive, check the weight and size, choose air freight, sea express or sea LCL cargo, and pay the shipping in full.
6Your friend confirms the entrustment, pays the tax and signs for it
Your friend checks the items and declared amount in EZ WAY and confirms the entrustment. If tax is due, pay it as notified; after receipt, inspect the parcel and raise any problem within 7 days.
What research can I refer to on cross-border gifting and buying toys online?
The studies below give background on cross-border gifting and buying toys online; none of them is Taiwan law, and none can prove the condition of any particular item:
- Gift declaration: the World Customs Organization's 2017 cross-border e-commerce report notes that customs administrations in many countries reported that low-value duty-free thresholds tempt under-declaration or misdeclaration, and that many ordinary sales parcels are labeled as gifts by the sender.
- Low-value duty-free thresholds: the OECD's Consumption Tax Trends 2018 summarizes that most member countries have a VAT relief threshold for low-value imports (about US$11 to US$300); Fajgelbaum and Khandelwal (2024) estimate that abolishing the US$800 threshold would reduce overall welfare; the Kazakhstan case study by Yeleussizova et al. (2024) confirms that the threshold is abused, but with little effect on tax revenue.
- Online goods and toy safety: in a joint sweep across 21 countries in the OECD's 2023 report, products bought online (all categories, not toys only) were on average 79% non-compliant; in 2024 the British Toy & Hobby Association bought 75 toys from third-party sellers on online marketplaces, and 85% were unsafe; in 2025 Toy Industries of Europe tested 70 unbranded toys from non-EU sellers, and 96% failed to comply. The two association reports are industry reports, not peer-reviewed papers.
- Gift-giving behavior: Sherry (1983) describes gift-giving as a universal behavior and proposes an exchange model; the survey by Qian et al. (2007) in Tianjin found that cultural values such as favor, relationships and face affect the amount and effort of gift-giving.
- Trust in cross-border online shopping: trust in cross-border online shopping develops from cognitive trust to behavioral trust and is affected by cultural, geographic and institutional distance (Wang et al., 2022); the systematic review by Chen et al. (2023) compiles 40 studies of consumer behavior in cross-border e-commerce. Direct research on overseas friends and relatives sending gifts to Taiwan through freight forwarding is not found on this page.
What are the common terms for sending a gift to Taiwan?
- consignee
- The person who receives the goods on the customs data; in this page's scenario it is your Taiwan friend, who is also the taxpayer (person liable for duty) for customs duty and business tax.
- dutiable value
- The basis for tax calculation: the transaction price, plus freight and insurance up to the Taiwan port of entry.
- low-value duty-free
- Express cargo with a same-batch dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less is exempt from customs duty, business tax and commodity tax; tobacco and alcohol and agricultural products under tariff-rate quotas are excluded, and it no longer applies to the same taxpayer (person liable for duty) after more than 6 times in a half-year period.
- customs-broker authorization (entrustment)
- The consignee authorizes a customs broker to make the declaration on their behalf, which can be done in writing, through the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window, or by case-by-case online entrustment through the real-name verification platform.
- EZ WAY
- The Customs Administration's real-name verification app: Customs pushes the declaration data, and the consignee confirms the entrustment after checking it; it applies to express simplified declarations, for citizens of the Republic of China and foreign nationals holding a resident certificate.
- Resident Certificate (ARC) Unified ID number
- The ID number for foreign nationals in Taiwan; the new format is one letter plus nine digits; the old-format number remains in use until the end of ROC year 119.
- C02
- An import rule code meaning that some goods under the tariff code are subject to mandatory BSMI import inspection.
- inspection-exemption clearance code
- The code entered on the declaration when the inspection-exemption conditions are met; for personal-use toys it is CI000000000005.
- sea LCL cargo
- Consolidated cargo shipped by sea container; rates vary by goods, so ask customer service for a quote; from NT$25 per kg, or from NT$150 per volume unit, volume unit ÷28316.
What are the sources and the scope of the fact-check?
The following sources were consulted on 2026-10-02; document dates and access dates are marked separately, and no date is invented where an update date is not stated.
Government and official primary sources
- Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Customs Act｜Document date: amended ROC year 111, month 5, day 11; Article 49, paragraph 1 lists duty-free goods, and the only ones related to donations are relief supplies, medals and badges presented by foreign governments or organizations, and epidemic-prevention and disaster-relief items donated to government agencies, with no duty exemption item for gifts between private individuals; paragraph 2: goods whose same-batch dutiable value is at or below the limit announced by the Ministry of Finance are exempt, but this does not apply where imports are frequent; Article 6: the customs taxpayer is the consignee, the holder of the bill of lading, or the holder of the goods; Article 29: dutiable value is based on the transaction price, plus freight and insurance to the port of entry, and where it cannot be applied, valuation follows the order of Articles 31 to 35.
- Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Air Express Cargo｜Document date: amended ROC year 115, month 2, day 23; Article 10: for non-commercial transactions that definitely have no invoice, a value declaration document signed by the consignor must be attached; Article 11: low-value duty-free express cargo has a dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less, low-value dutiable NT$2,001 to 50,000, and high-value over NT$50,000; Article 12: goods subject to import rules are cleared with a formal import declaration; Article 14: the same batch of imported express cargo may not be declared separately; Article 17: customs-broker authorization is completed in one of three ways, in writing, through the Customs-Port-Trade Single Window, or by case-by-case online entrustment through the real-name verification platform, and if it is not completed Customs may refuse to accept the declaration (effective ROC year 115, month 3, day 1); Article 18: where the consignee is an individual, the National ID number, the Resident Certificate (ARC) Unified ID number or the passport number must be declared, and where the real-name-verified mobile number is declared on a simplified declaration the ID number need not be declared.
- Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance (Taiwan): FAQ "Express cargo"｜Document date: page updated 2026-10-02; where the same-batch imported goods have a dutiable value of NT$2,000 or less, customs duty and the business tax and commodity tax collected by Customs are exempt, but this does not apply where imports are judged to be frequent; it no longer applies to the same taxpayer (person liable for duty) after more than 6 releases under the duty exemption within a half-year period, with the half-year period meaning months 1 to 6 and months 7 to 12.
- eTax Portal, Ministry of Finance: Overseas online shopping cases｜Document date: page updated ROC year 115, month 9, day 11; express cargo with a dutiable value within NT$2,000 is exempt from customs duty, commodity tax and business tax, and the same person is taxed after more than 6 times in a half-year period.
- Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance (Taiwan): What duties and taxes apply to imported goods?｜Document date: 2026-07-13 (original text checked 2026-09-30); customs duty = dutiable value × tax rate; business tax = (dutiable value + customs duty + commodity tax, etc.) × 5%; the trade promotion service fee is dutiable value × 0.04%, waived at NT$100 or less; the dutiable value is the CIF price.
- Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Value-added and Non-value-added Business Tax Act｜Document date: current text; Article 2, subparagraph 2: the business tax taxpayer for imported goods is the consignee or the holder; Article 20: business tax on imported goods is calculated on the customs dutiable value plus import duties and is collected by Customs.
- Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Foreign Trade Act｜Document date: current text; Article 21: the trade promotion service fee on imported goods is based on the customs dutiable value; Article 21-1: the rate may not exceed 0.0425% of the goods price.
- HowBridge: Freight-forwarding rates and import duties｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; air freight 3–5 working days, NT$100/kg on actual weight only, an extra NT$120 under 10 kg; sea express 5–10 working days, the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight (÷10000), an extra NT$100 under 10 kg; sea LCL cargo 7–14 working days, from NT$25 per kg or from NT$150 per volume unit (ask customer service for a quote by goods); combining and packing and fragile-item reinforcement are free; goods in the same batch may not be split in declarations to avoid tax.
- Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance (Taiwan): Introduction and instructions for express consignee real-name verification｜Document date: in effect from 2020-05-16; where the customs broker has not obtained under an undertaking the importer's customs-broker authorization document and the importer has also not completed real-name verification, Customs will not accept the declaration; Customs pushes the declaration data to the user through the EZ WAY app for confirmation, and the pushed field is the declared amount (purchase amount + shipping).
- Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance (Taiwan): Notes for users of express consignee real-name verification｜Document date: published 2020-03-18; real-name verification applies to simplified declarations for imported express cargo (not subject to import rules, dutiable value not over NT$50,000), for citizens of the Republic of China and foreign nationals holding a resident certificate; the entrustment remains dual-track, and a paper authorization form can be issued instead.
- Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance (Taiwan): Real-name verification FAQ｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; foreign nationals registering with a resident certificate must enter name, ID number, resident certificate expiry date (2099-12-31 for permanent residents), date of birth and mobile number, and upload photos of the front and back of the resident certificate IC card; telecom verification only accepts numbers from the 5 major telecom operators.
- National Immigration Agency, Ministry of the Interior: Notes on applying for and reissuing foreign resident unified ID numbers｜Document date: new-format numbers in use from 2021-01-02; the new unified ID number is one letter plus nine digits; the old-format number is used until ROC year 119, month 12, day 31, and is discontinued from ROC year 120, month 1, day 1.
- Customs-Port-Trade Single Window: Customs import tariff data 2026｜Document date: 2026-09-16 edition (obtained 2026-09-26); 9503.00.61.00-0 "toys representing animals or non-human creatures, stuffed" column 1 rate 0%, import rule C02; 9503.00.21.00-9 "dolls, whether or not dressed" column 1 0%, import rule C02; neither has MW0 or MP1. The actual tariff code and rate follow Customs' determination at the time of declaration.
- International Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs: Import rule code table｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; C02 means some goods under the tariff code are subject to mandatory import inspection announced by BSMI; MW0 means mainland goods not permitted for import, and MP1 means mainland goods conditionally permitted for import.
- International Trade Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs: Summary table of mainland China goods not permitted for import｜Document date: data updated ROC year 115, month 10, day 2; 2,513 items in the whole table, and a search for 9503 returns 0 entries; toy tariff codes are not in the list of mainland goods not permitted for import.
- Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Regulations Governing Trade between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area｜Document date: current text; Article 7: mainland goods may not be imported except in cases such as items announced by the competent authority as permitted for import; Article 11: for permitted mainland goods, the import documents must state "Made in Mainland China".
- Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), Ministry of Economic Affairs: BSMI Toy Product Classification Principles (Seventh Edition)｜Document date: ROC year 114, month 8, day 13; goods designed for children aged 14 or under and having play value fall within the toy categories subject to mandatory inspection, for example plush toys; goods designed as decoration or for adults are not toys; human-form and non-human-form toys are determined by a points table, where a label of "14 or under" or the word "toy" adds 3 points each, and a label of "over 14" or a limited-edition certificate subtracts 1 point, and 3 points or more means subject to mandatory inspection.
- Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Commodity Inspection Act｜Document date: current text; Article 6: commodities subject to mandatory inspection that do not meet inspection requirements may not be imported or exported; Article 9: non-sale personal-use items imported or exported may be exempt from inspection; Article 60: violators are fined NT$200,000 to NT$2,000,000 on the party obliged to apply for inspection; Article 60-1: where the total goods value is under NT$100,000, a fine of up to 2 times the total value may be imposed, but not less than NT$10,000.
- Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Regulations Governing Exemption from Commodity Inspection｜Document date: amended ROC year 108, month 11, day 21; Article 5: for non-sale personal-use toys, where the same declaration has the same specification and model with a total amount of US$1,000 or less and a quantity of not more than 5 items, or above US$1,000 with a quantity of 1 item, inspection exemption is granted, with the amount measured at CIF, and multiple declarations on the same import date are combined; Article 3: those who qualify may enter the inspection-exemption clearance code on the declaration themselves; Article 8: for the same specification and model, exemption within six months is limited to one time; Articles 16 and 17: an exempted item that enters the domestic market must go through inspection and may not be sold unless it passes inspection.
- Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), Ministry of Economic Affairs: Common inspection-exemption clearance codes｜Document date: effective ROC year 108, month 4, day 1; for toy goods at US$1,000 or less and not more than 5 items, the inspection-exemption clearance code is CI000000000005.
- Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), Ministry of Economic Affairs: Commodity inspection exemption Q&A｜Document date: each question published 2023-09-26; goods subject to mandatory inspection imported by air or sea express cannot use a simplified declaration and must be declared with a formal import declaration; non-sale personal-use items cannot be used as gifts, and changing to sale or gift requires separate procedures under the rules.
- Laws & Regulations Database of Taiwan: Banking Act｜Document date: current text; Article 29, paragraph 1: no one other than a bank may conduct domestic or foreign remittance business; Article 125, paragraph 1: violators are subject to imprisonment of 3 years or more and 10 years or less, and may in addition be fined NT$10,000,000 or more and NT$200,000,000 or less.
- eBay: Direct Shipping Policy for Cross-Border Transactions Shipped from Greater China｜Document date: effective 2021-05-08; items located in mainland China above a certain value must be shipped with SpeedPAK or an eBay-approved carrier; for transactions where the item location is in Greater China, a drop-off or acceptance scan and an uploaded tracking number are required within the listed handling time, applying to all eBay sites. The policy does not state how transactions shipped to addresses inside mainland China are handled.
- eBay: SpeedPAK Shipping Services｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; SpeedPAK is cross-border logistics from China run by eBay with Orange Connex; the official service table lists the United States, Europe, Australia and Canada, and Taiwan is not in the table.
- eBay Help: Changing your delivery address｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; at checkout you can choose another address or add a new one; after payment, the address provided at checkout cannot be changed yourself and you must contact the seller.
- eBay Help: Choosing or changing your delivery method｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; sellers generally cannot change the address the buyer provided at checkout; before dispatch, the better practice is to ask the seller to cancel the transaction and then place the order again with the correct address.
- eBay: Shipping exclusions｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; sellers can set regions or countries to exclude from shipping for all listings or for specific items.
- eBay Money Back Guarantee policy｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; a buyer's use of third-party freight forwarding or mail redirection (third-party freight forwarding or mail redirection) is not covered; the seller must deliver the item to the address on the order details, and once tracking shows delivery eBay may close the case automatically.
- eBay: Offering to buy or sell outside of eBay policy｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; offers to buy or sell outside eBay are not allowed, and only the payment methods offered on the eBay checkout page may be used.
- Taobao Global｜Document date: accessed 2026-10-02; Taobao Global's core sites include Taiwan, and overseas consumers can shop by opening the Taobao mobile app and switching to the corresponding country or region.
Research literature
WCO Study Report on Cross-Border E-Commerce
Customs administrations reported that low-value duty-free thresholds tempt buyers and sellers to under-declare or misdeclare goods, and that many parcels that are really ordinary sales are labeled as "gifts" by the sender; this is the international background on how customs views "gift declarations", not a Taiwan rule.
Consumption Tax Trends 2018: VAT/GST and Excise Rates, Trends and Policy Issues
Most OECD countries have a VAT relief threshold for low-value imported goods, ranging from about US$11 in Denmark to US$300 in Mexico, and the report notes that low-value online-shopping imports are growing quickly.
The Value of De Minimis Imports
Estimates that abolishing the US$800 low-value duty-free threshold in the United States would reduce overall welfare, and that lower-income areas rely more on low-value duty-free parcels; the study covers the United States and does not represent Taiwan.
Cross-border Retail E-Commerce and De Minimis: The Case of Kazakhstan
Confirms that the low-value duty-free threshold is abused in Kazakhstan, but that the effect of misdeclared low-value parcels on tax revenue is small.
Online product safety sweep report
21 OECD and partner economies jointly swept products bought online in month 10 of 2021 (October), with an average of 79% non-compliant (or possibly non-compliant), and 87% of banned or recalled products still available to buy.
Still toying with children's safety
75 toys bought from third-party sellers on 11 online marketplaces: 85% unsafe, 8% illegal, 7% compliant; an industry report, not a peer-reviewed paper.
The online toy safety gap – one year on
70 unbranded toys bought from non-EU sellers on 7 marketplaces and tested by EU-accredited laboratories: 96% failed to comply with EU rules and 86% had serious safety problems; an industry report.
Gift Giving in Anthropological Perspective
Describes gift-giving as a universal behavior and proposes a model of the gift exchange process.
Chinese cultural values and gift-giving behavior
A survey in Tianjin during the Spring Festival shows that cultural values such as favor, relationships, reciprocity, family orientation and face have a positive effect on the importance, amount and effort of gift-giving.
The construction of consumer dynamic trust in cross-border online shopping
Consumer trust in cross-border online shopping develops across the pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase stages from cognitive trust to affective trust and then behavioral trust, and is moderated by cultural, geographic and institutional distance.
Consumer behaviour in cross-border e-commerce: Systematic literature review and future research agenda
A systematic review of 40 studies of consumer behavior in cross-border e-commerce, which uses the stimulus-organism-response framework to identify two behavior patterns, approach and avoidance.
The eBay policy does not state whether it applies to transactions shipped to addresses inside mainland China, and no official description of a "this is a gift" checkbox or card feature was found; no official SpeedPAK service or transit time to Taiwan was found; detailed rules for official direct mail from Taobao and Tmall to Taiwan, and official descriptions for AliExpress and JD.com, were not found in the original text on this page. The document number and original text of the Ministry of Finance's announcement of the express duty-exemption limit dated ROC year 106, month 9, day 7, a valuation interpretation for goods bought by an overseas third party and then sent as a gift, BSMI's interpretation of whether "a gift from overseas relatives or friends, for the recipient's own use" falls under the restriction on gifting personal-use items, an EZ WAY registration channel for passport-only holders, and an interpretation of whether an occasional personal advance payment constitutes remittance were all not found on this page. Tariff data follows the 2026-09-16 edition, and the original text of the answers in BSMI's commodity inspection exemption Q&A was archived on 2026-09-26; the OECD 2023 report's figures come from search-result snippets on oecd.org, and the full text could not be opened to check. The actual tariff code, rate and clearance method follow what Customs and the customs broker determine at the time of declaration.
What are the common questions about sending a gift to a friend in Taiwan?
Can I send a gift from China to a friend in Taiwan while I am overseas?
Can Chinese sellers on eBay ship to the Shenzhen consolidation warehouse?
After the parcel goes to the consolidation warehouse, does eBay still protect me?
What is the difference between an eBay seller shipping directly to Taiwan and shipping to the Shenzhen warehouse and then forwarding?
What details does my Taiwan friend need to provide?
My foreign friend only has a passport. Can they use EZ WAY?
Can a gift to Taiwan be duty-free?
Who pays the tax on a gift?
Does a plush toy sent to Taiwan need inspection?
Can I pay the shipping with an overseas credit card?
For a plush toy, is air freight or sea express more cost-effective?
Further reading
Send a Gift from China to a Friend in Taiwan
HowBridge only has the Shenzhen and Taoyuan warehouses and offers mainland China → Taiwan freight forwarding; first confirm that the seller can ship to the Shenzhen warehouse and what declaration details and entrustment your friend needs, then decide how to send it.
View China-to-Taiwan service