The National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, Ministry of Finance (hereinafter referred to as the Bureau) expressed that it received an inquiry from a citizen regarding the necessity of filing house and land transaction income tax. The citizen (Party A) mentioned that they planned to sell a house and land that they acquired after 2016 in Lingya District, but do not possess household registration in Taiwan. They inquired whether they are required to file house and land transaction income tax and to which National Taxation Bureau they should address this matter.

The Bureau pointed out that for the sale of domestic land and houses where the right to use a house has been acquired by the creation of superficies or for presale houses with their building locations acquired on or after January 1, 2016, landowners or holders of other rights should adhere to Articles 4-4 and 14-5 of the Income Tax Act. This applies regardless of whether they have registered a household in Taiwan or not. In practical terms, they are required to complete and submit the house and land transaction income tax return within 30 days from the following day of the day of property ownership transfer registration. Along with the return, they should provide a photocopy of the contract and any other relevant documents, as well as proof of payment (if applicable).

The Bureau further explained that, the taxpayers shall file the individual house and land transaction income tax return with the competent tax collection authority in the following order.
    1. The National Taxation Bureau where the household is registered at the time of filing the tax return.
    2. The National Taxation Bureau where the taxpayer's domicile address is at the time of filing the tax return (foreigners residing in Taipei City or Kaohsiung City should file the tax return at the Alien Taxpayer Service Counter of the Head Office of the local National Taxation Bureau).
    3. The National Taxation Bureau where the house/land, house utilization right, or the presale house with its building location is located, provided that the taxpayer has no household registration or registered place of residence (foreigners whose transacted house/land is located in Taipei City or Kaohsiung City should file the tax return at the Alien Taxpayer Service Counter of the Head Office of the local National Taxation Bureau).
    4. The National Taxation Bureau where the Central Government is located (that is, National Taxation Bureau of Taipei, Ministry of Finance)

The Bureau provides further clarification in response to a question posed by Party A: If the landowner is a national of the Republic of China without a registered household in Taiwan at the time of filing the tax return, they must file the tax return with the National Tax Bureau where the transacted house/land is located, specifically the Lingya Office of the National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, Ministry of Finance in this case. If the landowner is a foreigner without a domicile address, the tax return should be filed at the Alien Taxpayer Service Counter of the Head Office of the National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung because the transacted house/land is located in Kaohsiung City.

If there are further questions, please dial the free service hotline 0800-000-321 for more information or go to the Bureau’s website (https://www.ntbk.gov.tw) to make an inquiry online through the smart national tax customer service “National Tax Assistant”.

Provided by: First Individual Income Tax Section
Contact person：Mr. Zhang    Phone number：(07)7256600 ext. 7270