How much tax do you pay when you ship Italian purchases to Taiwan?
Rates vary enormously — it is not the flat “5% on everything” people repeat: leather goods 6.6%, leather shoes 5% (rubber-soled 7.5%), clothing 10.5–12%, pasta 21–24%, balsamic vinegar 20%, olive oil and coffee 0%. ⚠️ But first check whether it can be shipped at all: Italian pork products (Prosciutto, Salame, Mortadella) have been prohibited from import into Taiwan since 10 January 2022, and anything sent by post is confiscated and destroyed. As for the VAT refund, the threshold has already fallen from €154.94 to €70, and the law requires the goods to be “carried out in the traveller's personal luggage” — an online order shipped direct to Taiwan runs on a different mechanism, “export not subject to tax”, which is not a refund at all.
Last verified: 2026-08-22 · HowBridge Forwarding Editorial Desk · Every rate checked line by line against the Customs Administration's official tariff schedule (2026-07-29 edition)
HowBridge does not currently offer or operate any Europe-to-Taiwan freight forwarding, purchasing-agent, or payment-agent service. The service does not currently exist, and there is no usable European warehouse address, no official rates, and no guaranteed transit times. Any warehouse names, shipping fees, or transit times mentioned elsewhere on this page are general market information only and do not represent services offered by this website. They must not be used to fill in a shipping address or place an order. If this route becomes available in the future, only the official website announcement and the terms then in effect will apply.
1. First, can it be shipped? Italian pork products are prohibited from import
Plenty of guides to buying in Italy lead with duty rates, but shippability outranks the duty rate — if the goods cannot enter at all, calculating tax is pointless.
① Italian pork products are completely prohibited from import. Under the Ministry of Agriculture's current “List of Countries (Areas) Free of Infectious Animal Diseases” (Announcement 農授防字第 1151868547 號, 2026-07-31), the European countries free of African swine fever are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom — Italy is not on the list. Italy also appears on the “List of Countries (Areas) That Have Had African Swine Fever in the Past Three Years”. Cannot be shipped: Prosciutto (dry-cured ham), Salame, Mortadella, Guanciale, Pancetta, Speck, meat-filled tortellini / ravioli, and meat-containing ready meals.
② The timeline has to be stated properly — the ban was briefly lifted in between. Italy was first struck off the disease-free list on ROC 109/2/19 (2020-02-19) (announcement No. 1091481175), but on ROC 109/7/31 (2020-07-31) (announcement No. 1091482099) it was announced that “Italy (excluding Sardinia) is free of African swine fever”, a brief lifting of the ban; then, on ROC 111/1/10 (2022-01-10) (announcement No. 1111480902), it was struck off again, and has not been reinstated to this day. So the correct wording is “prohibited since January 10, 2022”, not “since 2020”.
③ The legal consequences of mailing it: the goods are seized, and the recipient faces a penalty of their own. Article 34, Paragraph 3 of the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases provides: “Quarantine-regulated articles may not be imported by post; where they are imported by post, they shall be returned, confiscated or destroyed. Where a recipient receives quarantine-regulated articles imported by post, the recipient shall immediately deliver them to the import/export animal quarantine authority for destruction.” If the recipient does not hand them over for destruction, Article 45, Subparagraph 13 of the same Statute allows an administrative fine of NT$30,000 to NT$150,000, and the fine may be imposed on each occurrence.
⚠️ The “NT$200,000 / NT$1,000,000 fine” that circulates online comes from Article 45-1, which applies to “travellers, or persons serving on vehicles, vessels or aircraft” who fail to declare goods for quarantine, with a statutory range of NT$10,000 to NT$1,000,000 — that covers goods carried by travellers, not postal shipments.
④ Chinese-made pasta and wine cannot be shipped. The import regulations for pasta (1902.19.90, 1902.30.90) and wine (2204.21) include MW0 = “goods of mainland China are not permitted to be imported”. An Italian-brand product whose origin is marked Made in China is blocked by this code. Sparkling wine 2204.10.90 does not carry MW0.
2. Actual duty rates by item (Column 1)
General Rule 2 of the Customs Import Tariff provides: “The duty rates in this Tariff are divided into 3 columns. The rates in Column 1 apply to imported goods from members of the World Trade Organization, or from countries or areas that grant reciprocal treatment to the Republic of China.” In the Customs Administration's “List of Countries or Areas Eligible for Column 1 National Tariff Rates”, Italy is entry No. 72 (IT / Italy), and Italy does not appear on the Column 2 list — so Italian goods always take Column 1. Every line below has been checked against the official full Customs Import Tariff table published by the Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance (2026-07-29 edition) and against the rate file that records effective dates, with the import regulations independently cross-checked in the International Trade Administration (MOEA) system.
| Item | CCC 11-digit code | Column 1 rate | Import regulations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leather handbags / shoulder bags (outer surface of leather or composition leather) | 4202.21.00.00-3 | 6.6% | None |
| Belts (trouser belts and waist belts, of leather) | 4203.30.10.00-9 | 6.7% | None |
| Men's shoes (outer soles and uppers both of leather) | 6403.59.00.10-9 | 5% | None |
| Men's shoes (leather uppers + rubber / plastic soles) | 6403.99.90.11-1 | 7.5% | None |
| Cotton T-shirts (knitted) | 6109.10.00.00-6 | 10.5% | None |
| Men's wool suits | 6203.11.00.00-0 | 12% | None |
| Watches (case not of precious metal, self-winding) | 9102.21.00.00-4 | 4% | None |
| Sunglasses (non-prescription) | 9004.10.00.90-7 | 5% | None |
| Extra virgin olive oil | 1509.20.00.00-0 | 0% | 827 |
| Roasted coffee beans | 0901.21.00.00-5 | 0% | F01 |
| Green coffee beans (unroasted) | 0901.11.00.00-7 | 0% | B01 · F01 |
| Other cheeses (Parmigiano, Pecorino) | 0406.90.00.00-1 | 5% | F01 |
| Pasta (dried, not containing eggs) | 1902.19.90.00-7 | 21% | F01 · MW0 |
| Other noodles and pasta (including prepared pasta meal kits) | 1902.30.90.00-2 | 24% | F01 · MW0 |
| Wine (containers of 2 litres or less) | 2204.21.00.00-5 | 10% | 463 · MW0 · W01 |
| Sparkling wine, Prosecco | 2204.10.90.00-9 | 20% | 463 · W01 |
| Balsamic vinegar | 2209.00.00.00-5 | 20% | F01 |
Source: the official full “Customs Import Tariff Data” table of the Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance (GC413); the page shows a last update of 2026-07-29. Effective dates were checked against the Customs Administration's tariff rate file, and all 17 entries have no amendment awaiting entry into force; none of them appears on the temporary-rate list or on the ROC 115–119 annual tariff-reduction lists either. The most recent amendment to the Customs Import Tariff (ROC 115-01-28, i.e. 2026-01-28, 華總一經字第 11500007801 號) covered only 1107 malt and 1210 hops, and did not touch the items above. The import regulations were separately confirmed as consistent in the International Trade Administration (MOEA) system.
⚠️ Although the rates were cross-checked against two files, both belong to the Customs Administration; strictly speaking these are two public files from the same agency, not two independent agencies.
The 5% on miscellaneous postal articles: where the misunderstanding comes from
You often hear that “anything shipped back to Taiwan is taxed at a flat 5%”. There is a basis for this, but its scope is limited. Tariff heading 9899.00.00.00-6 reads, verbatim: “Dutiable miscellaneous articles other than a traveller's personal baggage, and miscellaneous articles in postal parcels, other than goods subject to tariff quotas, shall be taxed at a rate of 5% (Customs Import Tariff, General Rule 5)”, with 5% in both Column 1 and Column 3. This is a simplified levy for miscellaneous articles, not something that applies to every product; higher-value or commercial-quantity consignments are still taxed under their own headings.
Worth noting: Chinese goods take the same column as Italian goods
Many people assume that imports from Europe enjoy a more favourable rate column. They do not. China (No. 29), Hong Kong (No. 65) and Macau (No. 88) are on the Column 1 list as well, taking the same column of rates as Italy.
The difference lies in Column 2: China is also on the Column 2 list (No. 6), but with a note narrowing it to “in force from 1 January 2011 (ROC 100), applicable only to goods on the ECFA Early Harvest List”. Read together with General Rule 2 — “where imported goods qualify for both the Column 1 and the Column 2 rate, the lower rate shall apply” — this means that Chinese goods on the ECFA Early Harvest List take the lower of the two columns, while goods outside the list go through Column 1, exactly as Italian goods do. So the impression that “buying from Europe means lower tax” does not hold up at the level of tariff columns; what actually drives the price difference is the rate on each individual item.
3. What the import regulation codes actually control
| Code | Competent authority | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| F01 | TFDA, Ministry of Health and Welfare | Food and related products; import inspection must be applied for |
| B01 | APHIA, Ministry of Agriculture | Subject to animal and plant quarantine (green coffee beans, meat-containing products, etc.) |
| 827 | International Trade Administration, MOEA | Routing rule for oils and fats; subparagraph 1, verbatim: “Imported food and related products shall be handled in accordance with F01” |
| A02 | APHIA, Ministry of Agriculture | Conditional: “Where goods under this item are feed, import inspection shall be declared on importation in accordance with the Feed Control Act…” |
| 463 | Ministry of Finance | Tobacco and alcohol; a tobacco and alcohol importer's licence is required, but “tobacco and alcohol imported for personal use… alcohol: 5 litres” or less is exempt from attaching one |
| W01 | Ministry of Finance | Tobacco and alcohol control requirements |
| MW0 | International Trade Administration, MOEA | Goods of mainland China are not permitted to be imported |
| 504 | TFDA, Ministry of Health and Welfare | Medical devices; a copy of the licence is required, and the 14-digit licence number must be declared |
⚠️ A common misreading: olive oil carries “827, A02”, which looks like two separate procedures, but A02 applies only where the goods are “feed”; edible olive oil goes through subparagraph 1 of 827, which routes it back to F01, so no A02 is needed. Also, a blank “import regulations” field in the tariff does not mean the goods may be imported freely — crocodile and python leather goods, for instance, have a blank field, yet they are controlled under Article 24 of the Wildlife Conservation Act; CITES is not implemented through import regulation codes.
4. The truth about VAT refunds: three common misconceptions
Italy's standard VAT rate is 22% (DPR 633/1972 art. 16), and luxury goods, leather goods and footwear all fall under it — they are not in Table A of reduced rates.
⚠️ While we are here, one widely circulated claim needs correcting: Italy's 22% is not “the second highest in Europe”. According to the European Commission's Taxes in Europe Database, 11 of the 27 EU member states have a standard rate higher than Italy's (Hungary 27%, Finland 25.5%, Denmark / Croatia / Sweden 25%, Estonia / Greece 24%, Ireland / Poland / Portugal / Slovakia 23%), leaving Italy tied with Slovenia in 12th place. It is slightly above the EU average — upper-middle of the pack, and certainly not the highest.
On the subject of “refunds”, four more circulating claims fail to match the law as it now stands.
Misconception 1: “You get 22% back.” Wrong. The 22% is added on top of the pre-tax price, and the shop's shelf price already includes it. The tax contained in a tax-inclusive price = 22 ÷ 122 = 18.03%. So a bag priced at €1,000 can in theory return at most €180.3, not €220. And even that is the ceiling — the refund company takes a commission, so what you actually receive is lower.
Misconception 2: “The minimum spend is €154.94.” That is outdated. Through the 2024 Budget Law (L. 30 dicembre 2023, n. 213, art. 1 comma 77) Italy cut the threshold to €70, applicable from 1 February 2024. The current DPR 633/1972 art. 38-quater reads, verbatim: “…per un complessivo importo, comprensivo dell'imposta sul valore aggiunto, superiore a euro 70…” (a total amount, VAT included, exceeding €70). The old figure still survives all over the internet — even on the Italian customs authority's own pages.
One footnote worth knowing: €154.94 was never a figure written into the law — the old text said “lire 300 mila” (300,000 lire), and €154.94 was merely the conversion (300,000 ÷ 1936.27). The current text simply says “euro 70”.
The unit of calculation is a single invoice — invoices from different shops cannot be added together, and the law contains no “same day” requirement. Departure must be completed within 3 months following the month of purchase.
Misconception 3: “An online order shipped straight to Taiwan can also get a VAT refund.” These are two entirely different mechanisms, and blurring them sends people on a wasted errand. That same art. 38-quater expressly requires the goods to leave the EU customs territory “da trasportarsi nei bagagli personali” (carried out in the traveller's personal luggage) — the refund scheme applies only where the traveller carries the goods out in person.
When you order from a site such as Yoox for direct shipment to Taiwan, what happens is an export sale not subject to tax (non imponibile): the seller simply does not charge you VAT at checkout, so there is no “refund” taking place at all. The amounts come out similar, but the mechanism, the process and the paperwork are completely different.
Misconception 4: “Buy it in Italy, hand it to a forwarding company to ship home, and you can still claim the refund.” This one is dangerous, because in practice it cannot be done. Italian customs (ADM) impose strict conditions on refunds for goods sent home as “unaccompanied baggage”: the sender's name and the recipient's name must be identical, and the air waybill must state the identity document details of that traveller in person. Shipping under a forwarding company's name, or to family or friends in Taiwan, does not meet the conditions. If any operator claims to “handle Italian tax refunds on your behalf”, ask first exactly how they satisfy this requirement.
One more thing to be clear about: not being charged VAT ≠ automatically 18% cheaper. An online order shipped direct to a third country is legally an “export not subject to tax”, but the law only guarantees that you are not charged VAT; it does not guarantee that the platform's listed price falls by the same proportion — the actual selling price is each platform's own commercial pricing decision. And note that even with the VAT waived at the Italian end, Taiwan's customs duty and 5% business tax are still payable (see the rate table in section 2 above). Saying only “you save 18%” is misleading.
A platform mix-up worth correcting: MyTheresa is a German company (headquartered in Munich), and what it deducts at checkout is German VAT at 19%, not Italy's 22%. Listing it as “an Italian platform with a 22% refund” is wrong. Farfetch, by contrast, is a marketplace on which each seller ships independently, so whether tax is refunded depends on the seller's country and policy.
A time-sensitivity warning: all the article numbers change from 2027. In January 2026 Italy promulgated the VAT Code (Codice IVA, D.Lgs. 19 gennaio 2026, n. 10), and the whole of DPR 633/1972 will be repealed with effect from 1 January 2027, its content moving into the new code: rates → art. 34, exports not subject to tax → art. 45, traveller refunds → art. 51 (the threshold stays at €70). After 2027, the article numbers cited on this page must be re-cited to the new code.
5. Food, item by item: the category most likely to go wrong
Almost every Italian food carries F01 (TFDA import inspection), and the duty rates swing enormously — anywhere from 0% to 24%. Here is the breakdown, item by item.
Olive oil: 0% duty, the simplest case of all. Extra virgin (1509.20), virgin (1509.30), other virgin (1509.40) and refined (1509.90) all carry a Column 1 rate of 0%. The import regulation is 827, whose subparagraph 1 reads, verbatim: “Imported food and related products shall be handled in accordance with F01.”
⚠️ Two common errors: (1) the heading 1509.10 no longer exists (HS2022 split it into 20 / 30 / 40), so anyone still citing it is working from outdated information; (2) the A02 that appears alongside is a conditional requirement — the original text reads “where goods under this item are feed, the Feed Control Act shall apply on importation…”, which does not cover edible olive oil, so no A02 is needed.
Coffee: 0% duty, but green beans need one extra quarantine step. Roasted coffee beans (0901.21) are 0% and carry F01. Unroasted green beans (0901.11) are also 0%, but the import regulation is B01 + F01 — B01 being animal and plant quarantine. If you want Italian-roasted coffee, roasted beans are the simplest route.
Pasta: the most heavily taxed category, 21%–24%. Dried pasta not containing eggs (1902.19.90) is 21%; prepared pasta meal kits (1902.30.90) run as high as 24%. Both carry F01 + MW0 (Chinese-made not permitted).
⚠️ Classification details: egg pasta such as tagliatelle all'uovo falls under 1902.11, not 1902.19; rice vermicelli 1902.19.10 is charged a specific duty of NT$49 per kilogram; 1902.30.10 instant noodles are 20%, and 1902.30.20 other rice vermicelli is likewise a specific duty. So “all pasta is 21%” is simply wrong.
Cheese: it can come in, but the hurdle is the paperwork, not the duty rate. Cheeses of every kind (0406) carry a Column 1 rate of 5% and F01, with no B01. The real gate is this: under the TFDA's FDA食字第 1081302504 號 (issued 2020-02-05, in force 2020-05-01; ROC 109-02-05 / 109-05-01), HS 0401–0406 requires an official health certificate from the exporting country with every consignment.
Italy has not yet passed the systematic audit for dairy products (so far only Lithuania, Australia and New Zealand have), but it is listed on the TFDA's “tariff headings for dairy products temporarily importable from countries that have not completed the systematic audit procedure”, and 14 headings including 0405 / 0406 remain importable — Parmigiano, mozzarella, gorgonzola and ricotta are all covered. The difficulty for a private postal shipment is obtaining that official health certificate, not any notion that “Italian cheese is banned from import”.
Wine: the tax is more complicated than people expect, and it gets no protection from the duty-free threshold. Still wine (2204.21, 750 ml bottles) carries 10% duty; sparkling wine (Prosecco, Franciacorta, 2204.10.90) is 20%, exactly double — yet Champagne (2204.10.10) is only 10%.
On top of that comes the Tobacco and Alcohol Tax: under Article 8 of the Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Act, “other brewed alcoholic beverages: NT$7 per litre for each degree of alcoholic strength”, which is about NT$68 for a 750 ml bottle at 13 degrees.
🔴 The key point: the NT$2,000 low-value duty-free threshold does not apply to tobacco and alcohol. Ministry of Finance announcement 台財關字第 1061018778 號 reads, verbatim: “Where the customs value of goods imported in the same consignment is NT$2,000 or less, customs duty and the business tax and commodity tax collected by Customs on its behalf shall be exempted, except that this shall not apply to tobacco and alcohol or to agricultural products subject to tariff quotas.” Even a single bottle is taxed.
The personal-use threshold for alcohol: 5 litres. The original text of import regulation 463 states: “Where tobacco or alcohol is imported for personal use and the quantity does not exceed the following, the document need not be attached… (2) alcohol: 5 litres”; Article 3, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1 of the Regulations Governing Inspection of Imported Alcoholic Beverages likewise exempts “alcoholic beverages imported for personal use in a quantity not exceeding 5 litres” from sanitary inspection (clearance code DN000000000001).
⚠️ But this is a simplification of administrative clearance, not the same thing as “lawful and free of penalty”. Paragraph 3 of the same article adds that “where an importer breaches the permitted use of inspection-exempt alcohol, the exemption shall be suspended for six months”. Reselling after importation can still fall foul of the illicit-alcohol provisions of the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act.
Balsamic vinegar: 20%. Pure vinegar (2209.00) is 20% in Column 1 and carries F01. Thickened balsamic glaze may instead fall under 2103.90 (12%); no clear official interpretation of that boundary could be found, so in practice the classification determined by Customs governs.
6. Eight classification traps
Within one and the same product category, a difference in material, construction or intended use pushes the goods into another tariff heading, and the rate can differ several times over. These are the points that turned up while checking the full tariff schedule — the ones most easily written up or calculated wrongly.
| Trap | What is actually the case |
|---|---|
| “All bags are 6.6%” | The official description of 4202.21 is “handbags, whether or not with shoulder strap or handle”, and it is limited to goods with an outer surface of leather or composition leather. An outer surface of plastic sheeting or textile materials falls under 4202.22, and other materials under 4202.29 (10%). |
| “Italian leather shoes are 5%” | Only shoes whose outer soles are leather as well get 5%. Most modern leather shoes have rubber or plastic soles and fall under 6403.99, at 7.5%. |
| “Pasta is 21%” | Only if it is dried and free of eggs. Egg pasta falls under 1902.11; rice vermicelli 1902.19.10 is a specific duty of NT$49 per kilogram; prepared meal kits 1902.30.90 are 24%. |
| “All sparkling wine is 20%” | Champagne is the exception: 2204.10.10 Champagne is 10%, while 2204.10.90 other sparkling wines (including Prosecco) are the ones at 20%. |
| “Sunglasses need no import permit” | Non-prescription 9004.10.00.90-7 genuinely carries no import regulation; but prescription corrective sunglasses 9004.10.00.10-4 carry 504, are medical devices, and require a copy of the licence plus declaration of the 14-digit licence number. |
| “If the tariff lists no restriction, it can be imported” | A blank import-regulations field ≠ free importation. Crocodile and python leather goods have a blank field, yet they are controlled under Article 24 of the Wildlife Conservation Act and require a CITES permit; a violation may draw 6 months to 5 years' imprisonment together with a criminal fine of NT$300,000 to NT$1,500,000 under Article 40 of the same Act. |
| “Column 2 is cheaper — find a way to qualify” | Column 2 is confined to specified least-developed countries and to those that have signed an FTA or economic cooperation agreement with Taiwan. Neither Italy nor any other EU member state is on the Column 2 list, so in practice Column 1 always applies. |
| “Fur coats are hit by the luxury tax” | Usually not. The proviso to Article 2, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 of the Specifically Selected Goods and Services Tax Act excludes “wildlife not designated as protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act, and products thereof”, so ordinary mink and fox coats fall outside the charge even at a high price. |
⚠️ The full tariff schedule also has a “levy regulations” column (where codes such as B, R and T* appear); this page has not obtained the official code table, so it does not attempt to explain what they mean, in order to avoid misleading anyone. In practice the classification determined by Customs governs.
7. FAQ
9899.00.00.00-6 reads, verbatim: “Dutiable miscellaneous articles other than a traveller's personal baggage, and miscellaneous articles in postal parcels, other than goods subject to tariff quotas, shall be taxed at a rate of 5% (Customs Import Tariff, General Rule 5).” This applies to miscellaneous articles, not to every product; higher-value or commercial-quantity consignments are still taxed under their own headings.8. Sources and version dates
Every duty rate, code and official document number on this page can be traced back to the primary sources below, with the version date at the time of retrieval. Verified on 22 August 2026. The tariff schedule and the disease-free lists are adjusted on a rolling basis, so please confirm the current status when citing them.
- Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance — official full Customs Import Tariff table (Customs-Port-Trade Single Window GC413, “Customs Import Tariff Data”) —— The primary basis for the 17 duty rates and import regulations on this page, covering the Column 1 / 2 / 3 rates, the levy regulations and the import regulations. The page shows a last update of 2026-07-29. The effective start and end dates of each rate segment were separately checked against the same agency's “tariff rate file”, confirming that none of the 17 entries has an amendment awaiting entry into force.
- Customs Import Tariff, General Rule 2 and General Rule 5 (Laws & Regulations Database of the Republic of China) —— Amendment date: 28 January 2026 (ROC 115-01-28) (華總一經字第 11500007801 號). General Rule 2 sets out how the three rate columns apply; General Rule 5 is the basis for taxing miscellaneous articles in postal parcels at 5%. ⚠️ This instrument is structured as “General Rules of Interpretation → General Rules → Chapters” and has no “Articles” at all, so a citation should read “General Rule 2”, never “Article 2”. The most recent amendment covered only 1107 malt and 1210 hops.
- Customs Administration, “List of Countries or Areas Eligible for Column 1 National Tariff Rates” —— Italy is listed as WTO member No. 72 (IT / Italy); Italy does not appear on the Column 2 list. China is No. 29, Hong Kong No. 65 and Macau No. 88, all likewise in Column 1.
- International Trade Administration (MOEA), “Import and Export Commodity Regulations Search” —— Independent second-agency verification of the import regulation codes (F01 / B01 / 827 / A02 / 463 / W01 / MW0 / 504), query timestamp 2026-08-22. The verbatim texts of 827 and A02 also come from here.
- Ministry of Agriculture, “List of Countries (Areas) Free of Infectious Animal Diseases” —— Announcement No. 1151868547, 2026-07-31. The European countries free of African swine fever do not include Italy. Relevant history: announcement No. 1091481175 (struck off 2020-02-19, ROC 109-02-19), announcement No. 1091482099 (ban lifted 2020-07-31, ROC 109-07-31), announcement No. 1111480902 (struck off again 2022-01-10, ROC 111-01-10; the current basis).
- Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases, Articles 34, 45 and 45-1 —— Article 34, Paragraph 3: quarantine-regulated articles may not be imported by post, and offending consignments are returned, confiscated or destroyed; Article 45, Subparagraph 13: a recipient who fails to hand the goods over for destruction faces NT$30,000 to NT$150,000; Article 45-1: travellers, or persons serving on vehicles, vessels or aircraft who fail to declare goods for quarantine face NT$10,000 to NT$1,000,000.
- TFDA (Ministry of Health and Welfare) dairy control measures (FDA食字第 1081302504 號) —— Issued 2020-02-05 (ROC 109-02-05), in force 2020-05-01 (ROC 109-05-01); HS 0401–0406 requires an official health certificate from the exporting country with every consignment. The countries that have passed the systematic audit are Lithuania, Australia and New Zealand; Italy is listed under “tariff headings for dairy products temporarily importable from countries that have not completed the systematic audit procedure”, covering 14 headings including 0405 / 0406. The TFDA page carries a maintenance date of 2026-07-14.
- Regulations Governing Inspection of Imported Alcoholic Beverages, Article 3; Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Act, Article 8 —— Alcoholic beverages imported for personal use not exceeding 5 litres are exempt from inspection (clearance code DN000000000001); Paragraph 3 of the same article adds that “an importer who breaches the permitted use of inspection-exempt alcohol shall have the exemption suspended for six months”. Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Act (amendment date 24 January 2025, ROC 114-01-24), Article 8: “other brewed alcoholic beverages: NT$7 per litre for each degree of alcoholic strength”.
- Customs Act, Article 49, Paragraph 2, and Ministry of Finance announcement 台財關字第 1061018778 號 —— Verbatim: “Where the customs value of goods imported in the same consignment is NT$2,000 or less, customs duty and the business tax and commodity tax collected by Customs on its behalf shall be exempted, except that this shall not apply to tobacco and alcohol or to agricultural products subject to tariff quotas.”
- Italy, DPR 633/1972 art. 16, art. 8, art. 38-quater (Normattiva) —— art. 16, standard rate 22%; art. 8, exports not subject to tax (expressly excluding “beni da trasportarsi nei bagagli personali”); art. 38-quater, traveller refunds, with the current threshold “superiore a euro 70” and the requirement that the goods be carried out in the traveller's personal luggage. ⚠️ The whole of DPR 633/1972 will be replaced from 2027-01-01 by the VAT Code (D.Lgs. 19 gennaio 2026, n. 10), and the article numbers will change.
- Italy, 2024 Budget Law L. 30 dicembre 2023, n. 213 art. 1 comma 77 —— Changed the refund threshold from “lire 300 mila” (= €154.94) to “euro 70”; verbatim, “si applicano alle cessioni poste in essere a decorrere dal 1° febbraio 2024”.
- Italian Customs Agency (ADM), Tax Free Shopping and OTELLO guidance —— Refund threshold “per ogni fattura… superiore ai 70 euro”; for goods sent home as unaccompanied baggage, the sender and the recipient must bear the same name and the air waybill must state the traveller's own identity document details; refunds are handled by intermediaries, which deduct their commission directly from the refund amount, and Customs itself does not make refunds.
- European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database (TEDB) VAT Retrieval Service —— Live lookup of the standard VAT rates of the 27 EU member states (situationOn 2026-08-22, most records with a reference date of 2026-07-01). ⚠️ The annual VAT rates PDF that the Commission used to publish has been discontinued, the last edition being 2021; the official advice is to consult TEDB instead.
- EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC art. 146, art. 147 —— art. 146, zero-rating of exports; art. 147, traveller refunds, in which €175 is a ceiling that each member state may lower, not a prescribed value — Italy has indeed lowered it to €70.
What HowBridge currently offers is shipping from China (Shenzhen consolidation warehouse) to Taiwan
The Taiwan-side duty rates and import regulations on this page apply no matter where the goods are sent from, so you can rely on them as reference. If you want to consolidate shipments back to Taiwan from Taobao, Tmall or Pinduoduo, you can enter the product name in the member tool and the system will automatically match the CCC tariff heading, display the import regulations, and warn you directly when an item carries a code such as MW0 that bars importation.
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