Taiwan Excludes Virtual Asset and Stablecoin Sales by Businesses from Business Tax; Service Fees, Commissions and NFTs Remain Taxable

Taiwan's Ministry of Finance issued an interpretive order on September 3 local time stating that sales by business entities of virtual assets and stablecoins as defined in Article 3, Subparagraphs 1 and 6 of the Virtual Asset Services Act do not fall within the scope of business tax. The ministry determined that virtual assets such as Bitcoin and Ether under Subparagraph 1 are used for payment or investment purposes, while stablecoins under Subparagraph 6 are multipurpose payment instruments, so transfers of these assets do not have the nature of consumption. This does not mean that the tax rate was lowered; it means that the sales and transfers in question fall outside the scope of business tax. However, service fees and commissions received by virtual asset service providers for providing others with related services, including virtual asset exchange, under Article 6 of the same Act constitute consideration for the supply of services and remain subject to business tax. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are not yet included among the virtual assets defined by the Act, so sales by business entities, as well as exchanges for another person's goods or services, are treated as supplies of services and taxed. The new standard reflects the asset classifications in the Act, which was enacted and promulgated on July 22, 2026. The ministry said the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Indonesia and the European Union already classify virtual assets as means of payment or financial services and do not impose value-added-tax-type levies on related transactions. The interpretive order applies only to business tax and does not address income tax or taxation of capital gains.