Renting & importing a car in Taiwan

How to rent and import a car

Even though Taiwan has an advanced public transport infrastructure, driving a car is always going to be preferable for some journeys. 

If it is your own car, even better. In this guide you will find out everything you need to do to rent and import a car.

Eligibility

Only cars that meet the following conditions may be imported:

• manufactured by World Trade Organisation countries 
• manufactured according to Taiwan’s regulations
• must pass a mandatory government inspection
• must be between 1-10 years old
• left-hand-drive cars that meet EUR 4 emissions standards with metric speedometers

To import any vehicle with a value greater than $20,000, an application must be made to the Board of Foreign Trade . Anyone with a resident permit can import a car into Taiwan up to six months after arriving in the country.

If you are planning to import a car it must have been registered to you for more than a year. You must provide the following documents:

• passport
• residence visa and work certificate  
• purchase invoice and driver’s license certificate of title and registration which must show ownership of at least one year  
• import permit issued by the board of Foreign Trade  
• OBL (Original Bill of Lading) must state make, model, year, colour, engine number, number of doors, left hand drive, air conditioning, radio, etc

Import taxes

It can be prohibitively expensive to import a car into Taiwan, so it may not be worth the cost. The following taxes need to be paid on an imported vehicle

• Import duty (17.5% of customs value)
• VAT (5 % of car's value)
• Commodity tax (between 25-30% of car's value)
• Business tax (5% of the sum of the Customs value, Import Duty and Commodity Tax)
• Trade promotion fee (0.04%)

Foreign number plates

In order to obtain a Taiwanese number plate, you need to pay to get the car inspected at a Motor Vehicle Office. The fee is based on vehicle size and type - the larger the vehicle the higher the fee.

Renting a car

The minimum age to rent a car is 21 years old, and you will need to provide an international driving license along with your driving license from your own country. The main rental companies are Car Plus, HLC and IWS. The average price to rent a four seater car is $100 per day. If you are not familiar with the roads a chauffeur service is recommended when renting a car

You can find car rental services at most major airports offering a variety of vehicles and even chauffeur services. Generally as public transport is so convenient, car rental is not a popular option and likely to be more expensive than in other countries.