Opening a Restaurant in Taiwan: Business Registration, Tax ID and Uniform Invoices (2026 Checklist)

Opening a restaurant in Taiwan involves three registrations, not one: (1) register a business (sole proprietorship/partnership, 行號) or a company on the Ministry of Economic Affairs one-stop platform — your Unified Business Number (統一編號) is issued at this step; (2) before you open, complete tax registration (稅籍登記, often called 營業登記) with your local National Taxation Bureau, which decides whether you must issue uniform invoices or pay an assessed small-business tax; (3) as a food business, register separately on the Food and Drug Administration's food business registration platform (非登不可). First-time owners rarely get stuck on the paperwork itself — they get stuck because they treat the three tracks as one and do them in the wrong order.

General information about Taiwan's rules, not legal or tax advice; the author is not a lawyer, accountant or bookkeeper. Procedures, thresholds, fees and tax rates change — the current notices on the MOEA one-stop service, the Ministry of Finance tax portal and your local National Taxation Bureau, the Business Registration Act and the Value-added and Non-value-added Business Tax Act always prevail. Ask an accountant, bookkeeper or the agency about your own case. Eatsy does not file any registration for you. Most official pages and forms are in Chinese; the Chinese names are kept below so you can search for them. Last updated: September 2026.

The checklist: what to do, which agency, where to apply

Ordered by what you actually do first, not by statute. Every "where to apply" link is an official page — check it for the current forms and rules.

Step	What to do	Agency	Where to apply
0	Confirm the premises can be used for a restaurant (zoning, building use, landlord consent)	Local building / urban-development office; landlord	Check the lease and occupancy permit, look up local zoning (see "pitfalls" below)
1	Name pre-check	MOEA Administration of Commerce / special-municipality government	One-stop online service
2	Business registration (行號) or company registration → Unified Business Number issued	Business: local city/county government; company: Administration of Commerce or special-municipality government	Business setup flow / Company setup flow
3	Tax registration (稅籍登記) → invoice issuer or assessed small business	Local National Taxation Bureau	Taipei NTB tax registration page (other areas: your own bureau), or apply together on the one-stop platform
4	Food business registration (非登不可)	Ministry of Health and Welfare FDA / local health bureau	Food business registration platform
5	If you hire staff: register as a labor and health insurance employer	Bureau of Labor Insurance; National Health Insurance Administration	Bureau of Labor Insurance (can be done together on the one-stop platform)

Step 0 comes first on purpose: whether the address can legally host a restaurant is the hardest thing to undo, and every later form asks for that address.

Business (行號) or company? Decide this first

Most owners of a single, self-funded restaurant with no plans for investors or franchising start as a business (行號); owners who want investors, more branches or franchising, or who want to separate personal assets from the restaurant's debts, look at a company. This is what most first-time owners choose, not a legal conclusion — discuss the trade-offs with an accountant. Four differences:

• Law and agency: a business registers under the Business Registration Act with the local city or county government; a company registers under the Company Act with the Administration of Commerce or a special-municipality government, depending on capital and location. Both can be done online on the one-stop platform.
• Liability: a business is a sole proprietorship or partnership, so the owner is generally personally liable for its debts; a limited company or company limited by shares is liable only up to the capital contributed.
• Name protection: a business name is generally checked only within the same city or county; a company name is checked nationwide. This is one reason many businesses also register a trademark (see which trademark classes a restaurant needs, in Chinese).
• Tax and bookkeeping: a business's profit is added to the owner's personal income; a company is a separate profit-seeking enterprise with its own corporate income tax and bookkeeping requirements.

Either way, list restaurant-related business items (for example restaurants or beverage shops); tax registration and food business registration are later matched against them.

Where does the Unified Business Number come from? Not from the tax bureau

The Unified Business Number (統一編號) is issued when your business or company registration is approved; the tax bureau's tax registration then sets up your tax file under that number rather than issuing a new one. Two common mix-ups:

• "Get the number from the tax bureau first" — the order is reversed. Only very small businesses exempt from business registration under Article 5 of the Business Registration Act (for example street vendors, or sales below the business-tax threshold) register directly with the tax bureau and get their number there; thresholds follow Ministry of Finance notices.
• "A company number and a business number look different" — both are 8 digits; the difference is the registered entity. Registration details are public on the commercial registration lookup.

"Business registration" is now "tax registration": do it before you open

Article 28 of the Business Tax Act requires a business to apply for tax registration with its tax authority before it starts operating; the colloquial 營業登記 means this step, with details in the Ministry of Finance's Tax Registration Regulations. You usually need the business/company registration approval, the owner's ID, and the lease or proof of the premises; check the exact list on your bureau's tax registration page (for example Taipei or Northern Area), or tick the option to file it together on the one-stop platform.

After you apply, the bureau usually inspects the premises and then makes a decision that matters a lot for a restaurant: whether you must issue uniform invoices, or are taxed as an assessed small-scale business.

Uniform invoices vs assessed small-scale business: the difference, and who decides

In short: whether you issue invoices is generally not your choice — the tax bureau decides based on the nature and size of your business; once you reach the Ministry of Finance's standard, you will be required to issue uniform invoices (統一發票, Taiwan's official receipt). The two statuses compare as follows (see Business Tax Act Articles 13, 23 and 32):

	Small-scale business (assessed tax)	Uniform-invoice issuer
Receipts	No uniform invoices	Issue uniform invoices on each sale as required
How tax is calculated	The bureau assesses your sales and applies a lower rate, then mails a tax bill	Standard rate on output tax minus input tax, filed by you periodically
Input tax credit	Generally no	Yes, with valid purchase invoices
Bookkeeping	Lighter, but keep purchase receipts	Heavier; most restaurants hire a bookkeeper or accountant

• Thresholds follow Ministry of Finance notices. As of September 2026, the threshold for being exempt from uniform invoices is monthly sales under NT$200,000 (see the next point); the business-tax threshold is also adjusted from time to time (it was last raised in early 2025). The Ministry of Finance tax portal and your bureau's notices prevail.
• Everyday eateries have their own treatment. A Ministry of Finance press release in March 2026 restated that everyday eateries (snack shops, noodle shops, breakfast shops, buffets and the like) and small-scale businesses with monthly sales under NT$200,000 remain exempt and pay an assessed 1% tax. Chains, franchises, viral hot spots or busy eateries that would otherwise have to issue invoices can stay exempt from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2028 if they adopt mobile payment or self-order kiosks and are approved. This area is still changing — ask your bureau before you open.
• "Not issuing invoices is cheaper" isn't always true. Assessed tax gives no input tax credit, and ingredients, equipment and fit-out all carry input tax; past a certain size, issuing invoices can work out better. Chains, franchises, shops with POS or online ordering, and mall counters tend to be required to issue invoices anyway. Have an accountant run your own numbers.
• Only after you're assigned invoice-issuer status do you buy invoices or apply for e-invoicing, following the bureau's notice.

Once you issue invoices: issue them unasked, invoice deposits at checkout, and invoice forfeited deposits too

For a business assigned to issue uniform invoices, issuing one is the restaurant's duty — not something the guest has to ask for. Article 32 of the Business Tax Act requires the seller to issue the invoice and hand it to the buyer on each sale; even if a guest says they don't need it, you still issue it (it can go to their mobile carrier or be donated). So it's best not to write "if you need an invoice, please ask" on in-store notices or deposit and refund policies: the sentence itself isn't penalised, but if staff follow it literally and skip a guest who didn't ask, that sale is an unissued invoice.

• How to check which you are: enter your business number in the Ministry of Finance's tax registration lookup and look at the "uses uniform invoices" (使用統一發票) field.
• When to issue: the official timing table attached to the Business Tax Act says ordinary food service issues invoices "at settlement" for meals not paid by voucher; meals paid by voucher (meal vouchers, prepaid set tickets) are invoiced when the voucher is sold. A fully prepaid, strictly non-refundable special seating may also be treated as a voucher sale — ask your local bureau.
• Booking deposits: the Ministry of Finance has confirmed that restaurant and banquet booking deposits are invoiced at settlement — include the deposit in the bill and issue one invoice when the guest pays.
• Deposits kept after a cancellation or no-show: these are penalties received in connection with a sale and, under the Ministry of Finance's rule, must be invoiced. Invoice the amount you keep; the refunded part needs no invoice.
• If you don't: under Article 52 of the Business Tax Act, an unissued invoice caught before the filing deadline means paying the tax plus a fine of up to 5× the tax (capped at NT$1 million); caught three times within a year, the business can be suspended.

For how to write a deposit policy and handle refunds and transfer fees, see Can restaurants keep a deposit? 2026 rules.

Food business registration (非登不可) is a separate track — don't miss it

Under Article 8 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation and the Regulations Governing Registration of Food Businesses, restaurants must register on the FDA's food business registration platform (非登不可) and obtain a food business registration number. It is a different agency and a different system from business and tax registration, and you log in with a business certificate or the owner's citizen digital certificate. Duties to report changes, confirm your details each year and report closure are also in the regulations. We don't go further here; for the records a restaurant must keep, see the four kinds of records restaurants must keep under the new food safety rules (in Chinese).

The most common pitfall: the building's permitted use and the zoning

The registration process itself rarely stops anyone — the address almost always does. None of the situations below has a universal answer; check them before you sign a lease:

• The building is permitted for "residential" use. Under Article 73 of the Building Act, a building must be used as permitted, and changing the use category above a certain size requires a new use permit. What the permit says, whether you need a change, and how small is exempt differ by local government — check the permit and your local building office.
• Urban-planning zoning restricts restaurants. Residential and some industrial zones restrict restaurants or attach conditions (floor area, floor level, road width and so on) under the Urban Planning Act and each city's zoning rules; most special municipalities have an online zoning lookup by street address.
• The building's community rules forbid business use. Even with zoning and use in order, a condominium's rules may restrict a ground-floor restaurant or kitchen exhaust; confirm with the management committee before signing.
• The landlord won't agree to registration. After tax registration, house tax and land value tax may switch to business-use rates, so some landlords won't provide proof of premises; subleases and shared kitchens often can't produce documents matching the registered address. Settle this in the lease.

We deliberately don't draw a conclusion here, because two buildings on the same street can get different answers. There is only one practical rule: make "can this address be registered for a restaurant?" a condition of signing, not something to sort out afterwards.

FAQ

Does a small eatery have to do business registration? Article 5 of the Business Registration Act lists small businesses exempt from registration (such as street vendors, or sales below the business-tax threshold); a restaurant with fixed premises is generally not exempt. Thresholds follow Ministry of Finance notices — ask the local agency first.

How long does registration take, and what does it cost? Business and company registration each have fees based on capital and how you apply; online one-stop filing is usually faster than over the counter. We don't quote figures — see the one-stop platform's current fee notice.

Can I choose to issue invoices from the start? The tax bureau decides whether you use uniform invoices; a business below the standard can usually apply to use them, but approval is still the bureau's decision. Raise it when you file tax registration.

A final reminder: this is general information, not legal or tax advice; thresholds, fees, tax rates and procedures follow the current notices of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Laws & Regulations Database. Ask an accountant, bookkeeper or the agency about your own case. Eatsy does not file business registration, tax registration or food business registration for anyone — we wrote this because the independent restaurant owners we serve often mix the three tracks into one before they open.

Next steps

Registration is the foundation of opening a restaurant, not the whole of it. Also in our opening-resources hub: what to prepare when opening a restaurant: suppliers, photography and equipment; the full list is in opening resources.