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Chapter Law Content

Chapter 1 General Provisions
Article 1
Tobacco and alcohol products listed in this Act, whether manufactured domestically or imported from abroad, shall be subject to tobacco and alcohol tax in accordance with this Act.
Article 2
The definitions of terms used in this Act are as follows:
1."Manufacture" includes activities related to manufacturing or re-packaging.
2."Tobacco products" refers to products made, wholly or in part, with tobacco plants or other tobacco plant substitutes as ingredients, in a form suitable for smoking, chewing, keeping in the mouth, sniffing or any other method. Tobacco products are classified into the following categories:
(1)Cigarettes: tobacco products made by cutting tobacco plants into shreds which, after processing, are rolled with cigarette paper, with or without a filter added thereto.
(2)Cut tobacco: tobacco products made by cutting tobacco plants into shreds which, after processing, are suitable for smoking.
(3)Cigars: tobacco products made with cigar tobacco plants which, after processing, are wrapped and rolled into an elongated form by using filling leaves as buds and wrapping with center leaves and outer leaves, or non-leaf-rolled cigars made with cigar tobacco plants as the primary ingredients and having a distinctive cigar aroma.
(4)Other tobacco products: tobacco products other than cigarettes, cut tobacco or cigars.
3."Alcohol products" refers to beverages having an alcohol content in excess of 0.5 percent by volume, or un-denatured ethyl alcohol and other ethyl products which can be used for manufacturing or preparing the aforesaid beverages. However, this does not include medicated wines as prescribed in Paragraph 1, Article 4 of the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act. Alcohol products are classified into the following categories:
(1)Brewed alcoholic beverages: following alcoholic beverages brewed from grains, cereals, fruits or other agricultural products containing starch or sugar, either by saccharification or not.
(i)Beer: saccharized and fermented carbonated alcoholic beverages brewed from malt and hops as primary ingredients, with or without other cereals or starch as supplementary ingredients; complementary plant ingredients may or may not be added.
(ii)Other brewed alcoholic beverages: Brewed alcoholic beverages other than beer, including various fruit-brewed alcoholic beverages, grain and cereal-brewed alcoholic beverages, honey-brewed alcoholic beverages and other alcoholic beverages made by using the brewing method.
(2)Distilled spirits: alcoholic beverages made with grains, cereals, fruits or agricultural products plants containing starch or sugar as ingredients upon fermentation and distillation, after or without saccharification.
(3)Reprocessed alcoholic beverages: alcoholic beverages made by using ethyl alcohol, brewed alcoholic beverages or distilled spirits as the base liquor, and adding supplemental ingredients of a zoological or botanical nature, herbs, minerals or other food additives for purposes of seasoning. Extracts of added ingredients should not be less than or equal to 2% of total volume.
(4)Cooking alcoholic products:alcoholic products specified for cooking
(i)General cooking alcoholic products: alcoholic beverages utilizing liquor made from cereals or other starch-containing plants added with ethyl alcohol after saccharification as a base, or utilizing brewed alcoholic beverages, distilled spirits or ethyl alcohol directly as a base; with a salt content of more than 0.5% of the total volume, and with or without other flavors. The aforesaid salt content of more than 0.5% shall refer to the condition that each 1,000ml of the cooking alcoholic beverage contains more than 5g of salt.
(ii)Cooking rice wine: alcoholic products made from rice as raw material by saccharification, fermentation, distillation, and either blended or not blended with ethyl alcohol, the alcohol content of which does not exceed 20% of the total volume, and the label on the container shall specify ‘exclusively used for cooking’.
(5)Other alcoholic beverages: alcoholic beverages other than those specified in items (1) to (5), including powder liquors and other unlisted liquors.
(6)Ethyl alcohol: un-denatured ethyl alcohol with an alcohol content in excess of 90 percent of the total volume.
4.”Alcohol content” refers to the volume percentage of ethyl alcohol at 20 degree Celsius.
Article 3
Tobacco and alcohol tax shall be levied upon removal of tobacco or alcohol products from the factory or upon importation.
The taxable tobacco or alcohol products deem as “removal from the factory” in any of the following conditions:
1.Goods provided in the factory for consumption.
2.Goods processed in the factory into non-taxable products.
3.Goods in the factory transferred to another person upon the law’s compulsory execution or for other purposes.
4.Goods in stock when the manufacturer applies for de-registration.
5.Untaxed goods reduced in quantity for a reason other than fire, water or other uncontrollable calamity after transport to factories for processing, packing or storage in untaxed warehouses or in factories.
Article 4
The taxpayers of tobacco and alcohol tax are as follows:
1.For tobacco and alcohol products manufactured domestically: the manufacturer.
2.For tobacco and alcohol products manufactured on consignment basis: the consigned manufacturer.
3.For tobacco and alcohol products imported from abroad: the receiver of the goods, the holder of the bill of lading or the holder of the goods.
4.For untaxed tobacco and alcohol products auctioned off by the court or other agencies: the purchaser.
5.For exempted tobacco and alcohol products, which are resold or used for other purposes, having lost their tax-exempt status and on which tax shall be paid: the holder of the goods.
For the tobacco and alcohol products specified in subparagraph 2 of the preceding paragraph, if the consignor is a manufacturer of taxable tobacco or alcohol products, the consignor may apply to the competent tax collection authority for taking the consignor as taxpayer.
Article 5
Tobacco or alcohol products which meet any of the following conditions shall be exempt from tobacco and alcohol tax:
1.Goods used for the manufacturing of other taxable tobacco or alcohol products.
2.Goods exported abroad.
3.Goods used for exhibition purposes and following the exhibition, either taken back in its original form to the factory or exported.
4.Goods brought in from abroad as personal effects by either travelers or crewmembers for personal use, whose quantity does not exceed the limitation prescribed by the government.
Article 6
The tobacco or alcohol tax paid on tobacco and alcohol products which meet any of the following conditions shall be refunded:
1.Goods exported abroad.
2.Goods used as raw materials for manufacturing export goods.
3.Goods returned to the factory for reprocessing or refining into taxable tobacco or alcohol products.
4.Goods destroyed due to damage or the quality not conforming to the standard prescribed by the government.
5.Goods physically destroyed by flood, fire or other uncontrollable force while in transit or storage.