Procedures for setting up a company in Taiwan

Taiwan’s strategic geographical location in the Asian region serves as an important gateway, effectively connecting with major markets such as China, Japan, and South Korea. This gives companies based here a wide market access advantage. In addition, Taiwan’s high-quality human resources, especially in the fields of technology and manufacturing, with a well-qualified, dynamic and creative workforce, are also an important factor in attracting businesses. Taiwan’s transparent and effective legal system, ensuring the interests of investors, further strengthens the attractiveness of this location. In conclusion, setting up a company in Taiwan offers many competitive advantages for businesses, from strong business development potential to broad market access and high-quality human resources. Viet An Law would like to introduce you to the procedures for establishing a company in Taiwan through the article below.

Prepare information before setting up a company in Taiwan

Regarding nationality

In the procedure for setting up a company in Taiwan for foreigners, one of the prerequisites is that the applicant must have foreign nationality, except for Chinese (Mainland China) nationality. This means that Chinese nationals will not be allowed to directly set up a company in Taiwan under the category of foreign investment.

Regarding the minimum charter capital

The minimum charter capital to establish a company in Taiwan is 500,000 RMB (Taiwan Yuan). However, this minimum may vary depending on the type of business and line of business. Some factors that can affect the minimum charter capital include:

• Business lines: Some special industries, such as banking, insurance, securities, or high-tech related industries, may require a significantly higher charter capital than the base of NT$500,000. This is because these industries are often riskier and require stronger financial capacity to ensure stable operations determine and protect the interests of customers.
• Scale of operations: If the company plans to operate on a large scale, has many employees, or has complex investment activities, the charter capital level may also be higher to meet operational and management needs.
• Specific legal regulations: In addition to general regulations, there may be separate legal regulations applicable to each specific industry, regulations on the minimum charter capital.

For example: A small trading company, which only carries out simple trading activities, may only need a minimum charter capital of NT$500,000. In contrast, a technology company specializing in software research and development, or a financial company, may need a charter capital of up to millions or even tens of millions of NTD.

Procedures for setting up a company in Taiwan

Check and keep company name

Checking and keeping the company name is an important step in the process of setting up a company in Taiwan. It helps you ensure that the company name you want to use is unique and has not been registered by any other company. The process of keeping the name for the company is carried out as follows:

• Currently, the company name check in Taiwan is mainly done through the online system. You can use the Taiwan government’s Company and Business One-stop Service Request website: http://onestop.nat.gov.tw/oss/identity/Identity/init.do
• After checking and determining that the company name you want to use is valid and unregistered, you can proceed with the name retention procedure. This ensures that the name will be reserved for you for a certain period of time, usually a few months, allowing you to complete the company registration procedures.

Apply for investment approval

The list of documents to apply for investment approval includes:

• Application for Investment Approval: This form can be downloaded from the Investment Review Committee’s website.
• Business plan: This plan should describe the company’s business in detail, including business objectives, market strategy, financial plan, and expected economic impact.
• Documents proving financial capacity: Documents proving that the investor has sufficient financial capacity to implement the investment project. These documents may include:
  • Bank account statement.
  • Audited financial statements.
  • Bank guarantee letter.
• Investor’s ID:
  • Passport (notarized copy) or consular legalization.
  • Resume of yourself.

Open a business bank account

After the investment is approved, you need to open a bank account in Taiwan to transfer investment capital into and proceed with the capital transfer.

Preparation of business registration documents

After being granted an investment license, the investor will submit a business registration dossier according to the following list of documents:

• Identification documents of legal representatives/members
• Business Registration Form: You can download this application form from the website of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) or the local department of commerce where you registered your business. The application needs to be completed completely and accurately in Chinese.
• Company Charter:
  • Regulations on operations, organizational structure and management of the company
  • The company’s charter should be drafted in Chinese and comply with Taiwanese law.
• List of members/shareholders: If it is a multi-member company: It is necessary to provide a complete list of members/shareholders, including personal information (full name, address, nationality, passport/ID number), capital contribution rate.
• Certificate of business registration address:
  • Office/business location lease contract: It is necessary to provide a copy of the office lease contract or documents proving the right to use the business location.
  • Certificate of ownership of the house and land (if any): If the company owns the business location, it is necessary to provide a certificate of ownership of the house and land.
• Investment License Granted

Submission of business registration dossiers

Customers submit their dossiers at one of the following dossier-receiving agencies:

• Departments of Commerce under municipal governments (e.g., Taipei, New Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung): For companies with an investment capital of less than NT$500 million, you will apply at the Department of Commerce of the city where the company is located. This is the authority to review and issue business registration licenses for the majority of medium-sized enterprises and small.
• Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA): For companies with an investment capital of NT$500 million or more, or special circumstances (e.g., special business lines, with complex foreign investment factors), you need to contact and apply directly at the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

You can apply in one of two ways:

• Direct filing: You can go directly to the office of the Department of Commerce or the Ministry of Economic Affairs to submit your application.
• Online filing (depending on the locality): Some cities have implemented an online filing system, which saves time and effort. Customers can refer to more information via the link below: https://www.moea.gov.tw/ (Ministry of Commerce) or https://www.doed.gov.taipei/ (Taipei City Department of Commerce).

Clients who need to establish a company in Taiwan, please contact Viet An Law for the earliest support!