Taiwan Makes e-Invoicing Obligatory for All Taxpayers
Since January 2021, any foreign or national company has to issue an e-invoice. Failure to comply may mean sanctions by the Taiwan Ministry of Finance (TMF).
On the other hand, Taiwan has achieved its goal of completely replacing paper invoices with electronic invoices. Since 2000, most of the government has launched multiple initiatives to replace paper invoicing with e-invoicing.
In 2006, a program was launched to plan and standardize the e-invoice process through an integrated service platform. Then, in 2018, the TMF enforced the use of e-invoice through an application that covered all taxpayers this December.
Electronic Invoice in Taiwan- eGUI
Electronic invoice in Taiwan is called “Electronic Government Uniform Invoice”, also known as GUI or eGUI. EGUI is an invoice sent or received via the internet or other electronic means. The use of e-invoices is defined by the Uniform Invoice Usage Method norm.
Administrative Prerequisites:
To be invoiced electronically, companies must meet the following requirements:
To have an industrial and commercial certificate issued by the Ministry of Economy.
Hiring a value-added center and an electronic invoice provider that interfaces with the national billing platform according to legislation.
Companies must identify their invoices with the pre-determined serial number requested from the government.
Taiwan’s e-Invoice System
E-invoices must be signed and sent electronically to the Ministry of Finance’s Electronic Invoicing platform, known as the “Platform”, 7 days after they are delivered to business partners. Invoices are normally emailed to customers in PDF format.
Format
The format of the e-invoice is MIG-3.2.1 based on XML format. The PDF must also comply with government specifications.
Storage
Issue, cancellation, the return of sale, withdrawal of purchase or discount of electronic invoices must be approved by the other party of the transaction. The business must also archive the invoice-related confirmation message and confirmation documents for a minimum of 5 years.
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