Company formation in Taiwan

At a glance

Entity

Company Limited by Shares (股份有限公司 / gufen youxian gongsi) — the share-capital company foreign founders normally use; a simpler Limited Company (有限公司) also exists for very small ventures

Corporate tax

20% profit-seeking enterprise income tax (headline), plus a 5% surtax on earnings left undistributed by the end of the following year; small profits under NT$120,000 are exempt with graduated relief up to NT$500,000. As of 2026.

Incorporation time

~2-3 months for a foreign-owned entity: Foreign Investment Approval typically takes ~6-8 weeks and incorporation another ~4 weeks. A purely domestic company can be done in ~1-2 weeks.

Minimum capital

No statutory minimum share capital, but capital must be adequate for the business and CPA-verified. In practice the Investment Review board expects a foreign-invested company to show meaningful paid-in capital; if a foreign national serves as General Manager, ~NT$500,000 is the working floor, and ~NT$5,000,000 if a foreign national is employed in another role requiring a work permit.

Resident director

No resident director required; directors (and the single-shareholder option) may be foreign non-residents. However a Company Limited by Shares needs at least one director, and a foreign-invested entity must appoint a Taiwan-resident litigation/tax agent and hold a local registered business address.

Audit

Statutory CPA audit is mandatory once paid-in capital reaches NT$30 million, or annual net operating revenue reaches NT$100 million, or the company has 100+ employees (also for public companies and financial institutions). Below those thresholds no independent audit is required, though annual tax filing and CPA capital verification still apply.

Remote set-up

Largely doable without travelling, but not a same-day online flow: founders' identity documents and powers of attorney must be notarised and authenticated (via a Taiwan TECO/embassy office abroad), a CPA must verify remitted capital, and a corporate bank account must be opened before capital verification — bank onboarding is the main step that can require in-person presence or heavy KYC.

Government fee

Incorporation registration fee is 1/4000 of the registered (authorised) capital, subject to a minimum of NT$1,000. A separate business (tax) registration is also required.

Best for

Best for founders who want a credible, non-offshore Asia-Pacific base with strong ties to IP and tech supply chains. You need to be willing to sit through the Foreign Investment Approval process rather than optimising purely for speed or low tax.

The process

1. Reserve the company name and, for foreign owners, obtain Foreign Investment Approval from the Investment Review Board (MOEA)
2. Open a preparatory corporate bank account, remit capital, and have a Taiwan CPA issue a capital verification report
3. File incorporation registration (articles, promoter/board minutes, director & supervisor IDs, address proof, CPA power of attorney) with the Taipei City Office of Commerce or MOEA
4. Complete business/tax registration, obtain the company's tax ID, and apply for any special-business permits and work permits/visas as needed