This Act is enacted for the purposes of regulating expropriation of land, ensuring reasonable land use, safeguarding private properties and promoting public interest.
Land expropriation shall be governed by this Act. Matters not provided in this Act shall be governed by other applicable laws.
Where other laws are inconsistent with this Act with regard to expropriation procedures and expropriation compensation standards, this Act shall prevail.

The term “competent authority” used in this Act shall be the Ministry of the Interior at the central government level (referred to as the “Central Competent Authority” hereunder), the municipal government at the municipality level, and the county (city) government at the county (city) level.

To establish any of the following undertakings for public interest purpose, the State may expropriate private land, to the extent strictly required by such undertaking:
1. National defense undertakings.
2. Communication or transportation undertakings.
3. Public utility enterprises.
4. Water conservancy undertakings.
5. Public health and environmental protection undertakings.
6. Government office buildings, office buildings of local self-governing bodies and other public buildings.
7. Educational, academic and cultural undertakings.
8. Social welfare undertakings.
9. State-owned enterprises.
10. Other undertakings for which land may be expropriated according to law.

A land use applicant planning to establish an undertaking for public interest purpose should first survey and select the proper location of land and the area of land use based on the nature of the undertaking and actual needs, and should, whenever possible, avoid choosing farmland and give priority consideration to public land or land owned by state-owned enterprises without existing land use plan.
For agricultural land subject to expropriation or zone expropriation according to law after it has been designated or rezoned under the Urban Planning Act, the Regional Plan Act or the National Park Act, the competent authority in charge of the relevant industry should give consideration to the public interest purpose and necessity of expropriation at the time of designation or rezoning.
If the agricultural land located within the land selected by a land use applicant is exempted from the approval of the regional plan preparing authority with regard to its rezoning, the approval of the agriculture authority under the municipal or county (city) government shall first be obtained before the land is changed to non-agricultural use.
Arable and pastoral lands in a special agricultural zone are not subject to expropriation unless it is an interspersed odd piece of land that is difficult to circumvent. However the preceding provision does not apply to such land that is necessary for use by a national defense, communication or transportation, or water conservancy undertaking, or a public utility enterprise for erecting power transmission lines, or for use in an infrastructure project already approved by the Executive Yuan.

When considering expropriating land for establishing an undertaking, a land use applicant shall evaluate the public interest purpose and necessity of such undertaking and carry out overall evaluation and analysis of the following factors:
1. Social factors: Including the size of population affected by the expropriation, the age structure of the affected population, and the extent of effects of the expropriation plan on the current status of the surrounding communities, the life style of and health risk to disadvantaged groups.
2. Economic factors: Including the effects of the expropriation plan on tax revenue, food security, increase/decrease in jobs or population that might be forced to change jobs, the costs of expropriation, public facilities required of governments at all levels, the fiscal expenditure and burden of governments, the agriculture, forestry, fishery, or animal husbandry industry chain and the integrity of land use.
3. Cultural and ecological factors: Including changes in natural urban/rural sceneries, cultural relics, living conditions or life style caused by the expropriation plan, and its impacts on the ecological environment of the area, surrounding residents or the society as a whole.
4. Sustainable development factors: Including national sustainable development policies, sustainability indicators, and national land use planning.
5. Others: Other relevant factors or factors that should be evaluated based on the individual expropriation plan.

Zone expropriation may be carried out in case any of the following circumstances applies:
1. Where all or part of a newly established urban area is to undergo development and construction.
2. Where an old urban area is to undergo renewal to meet its needs for public safety, sanitation, transportation or promoting reasonable land use.
3. Where an agricultural zone or protection zone of urban land is being changed to construction land or an industrial zone is being changed to residential zone.
4. Where any non-urban land is to undergo development and construction.
5. Where a rural community is to undergo renewal in order to improve its public infrastructure or improve public health, or coordinate with the agricultural development planning.
6. Other circumstances where zone expropriation may be carried out according to law.
Where the area of development referred to in Subparagraphs 1 to 3 of the preceding paragraph has been approved by the Central Competent Authority, zone expropriation may be carried out first, and the urban planning shall be promulgated and implemented within one year after the zone expropriation has been publicly announced without being subject to the restriction set forth in Article 52 of the Urban Planning Act.
For a development project referred to in Subparagraph 5 of Paragraph 1 hereof, the land use applicant may, together with related authorities, propose the intended area of development, and submit a plan for the proposed undertaking that has been approved by its superior competent authority in charge of the relevant industry to the Central Competent Authority for approval, and proceed with the zone expropriation after the Central Competent Authority has granted its approval. After the required period for public announcement of zone expropriation has expired, the land use applicant shall complete the zone designation of non-urban land or change of land use zoning according to the land use plan.
The development referred to in Subparagraph 4 or 6 of Paragraph 1 hereof shall be undertaken in accordance with Paragraph 2 hereof, provided it involves the creation, extension or change of an urban planning project. Otherwise, the development shall be undertaken in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Areas not adjoining each other may be merged together for the undertaking of zone expropriation in accordance with the contents and scope of an urban planning project or the plan for the proposed undertaking, and the provisions of the preceding three paragraphs.
Regulations governing the implementation of matters such as the survey and selection of zone expropriation area, formulation and approval of expropriation plan, acquisition of lands, compensation for relocation, construction works, allocation design, cadastration arrangement, settlement of rights, financial settlement and coordination between zone expropriation and urban planning, etc shall be prescribed by the Central Competent Authority.

When any land is expropriated, all improvements thereon shall also be so expropriated, except for any of the following circumstances:
1. Where the owner of land improvement requests the possession of improvement and moves it by himself within fifteen (15) days after the expiration of public announcement period.
2. Where the improvements are graves or other memorials that must be relocated.
3. Where the constructional improvement should not have been built according to law.
4. Where the types or quantities of agricultural improvements are incongruous with normal plantation, the incongruous part.
5. Where there exists any provision to the contrary according to other laws.
The land improvements as referred to in the preceding paragraph may, in view of the needs of the proposed undertaking project, be expropriated within three (3) years starting from the date of public announcement of expropriation. However when the owner of land improvement requests the simultaneous expropriation of the improvement before the land use applicant requests expropriation of the land, the land use applicant shall carry out expropriation of both the land and the improvement thereon simultaneously.
For land improvements referred to in Subparagraphs 3 and 4 of Paragraph 1, the municipal or county (city) competent authority may, after the expiration of the public announcement period for expropriation, notify the owners or users of the land improvements to relocate or dismantle the improvements within a prescribed time limit without compensation. After the expiration of the prescribed time limit, the municipal or county (city) competent authority may, together with relevant authorities, directly dispose such improvements.

The provisions of the preceding article shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to the expropriation of private improvements on public land, provided the land use applicant has acquired the public land that has been approved for appropriation or development.

Land with historical relics or remains, or registered historical building thereon should be excluded from expropriation whenever possible. If it is impossible to exclude such land from expropriation, the land use applicant shall draft a preservation plan and seek the approval of the competent authority in charge of the relevant industry before proceeding with the expropriation.

In case of any of the following circumstances, land or land improvement owners may apply to the municipal or county (city) competent authority for simultaneous expropriation within one year from the date on which expropriation is publicly announced. Any such application will be rejected past the aforementioned time period:
1. The remaining land after expropriation cannot be put to reasonable use because its area is too small or its shape is not intact.
2. The remaining constructional improvement cannot be used for comparable purposes.
The application referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be made in written form, and may be cancelled in written form before the payment of compensation is distributed. The remaining land or constructional improvements simultaneously expropriated should be compensated for in cash.

Unless the land has been taken by a zone expropriation project, or this Act or other laws provide otherwise, the original landowners of expropriated lands may apply to the municipal or county (city) competent authority for the redemption of their land ownerships within twenty (20) years from the date of public announcement of land expropriation at the price of the original amount of compensation without being subject to the provisions of Article 219 of the Land Act in case any of the following circumstances applies:
1. The land has not begun to be used according to the original expropriation plan three years after the payment of compensation is distributed.
2. The land has not been used for the originally approved undertaking.
3. The land is no longer used according to the original expropriation plan after it has been used accordingly for less than five (5) years.
After receiving an application (from the original landowner) and verifying that the application complies with the preceding paragraph, the municipal or county (city) competent authority shall report to the original authority which approved the expropriation plan. After obtaining approval from the original approving authority, the municipal or county (city) competent authority shall notify the original landowners to repay the originally received compensation for land value as well as additional compensation for land value within six (6) months. The original landowners are deemed forfeiting their redemption right should they fail to repay the compensations within the prescribed time limit.
Where the circumstance as described in Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 1 hereof is not attributable to the fault of the land use applicant, the original landowners may not apply for the redemption of expropriated land.
The term “having begun to be used” as referred to in Subparagraph 1 of Paragraph 1 hereof shall mean that the construction of the main body of the undertaking has commenced, unless the nature of the undertaking does not require any construction work.