Taiwan Customs & Tax on Trading Cards from Japan — What You Actually Pay
공유
When you order trading cards from Japan to Taiwan, what you pay on arrival is decided by two lines: one on the amount, and one on how many times. Know both, and you can work out the figure before you buy.
We run a trading card shop in Japan and ship to Taiwan. This guide covers the rules as of September 2026, with links to the official sources. Rules can change, so please check the latest for yourself too.
The short version
- Cards are duty-free on Taiwan's tariff table (HS 9504.40, Column I).
- Line one — the amount: postal parcels with a customs value of NT$2,000 or less pay no duty, no commodity tax and no business tax. Above it, the whole amount is taxable — for cards, that means the 5% business tax.
- The customs value includes shipping by definition (goods + freight + insurance).
- Line two — the count: the exemption covers six parcels per half-year (January–June, July–December).
- By post, you pay once, at your door.
Is there customs duty on the cards?
Duty rates are set by HS code — the product number countries around the world share. Trading cards fall under 9504.40: game cards, including poker cards (遊戲卡片（包括撲克牌）).
Taiwan's tariff table shows three rate columns for that line:
| Column | Used for | Rate on 9504.40 |
|---|---|---|
| Column I (第一欄) | World Trade Organization members — this includes Japan | Duty-free |
| Column II (第二欄) | Certain partners | Duty-free |
| Column III (第三欄) | Trading partners that fit neither of the first two | 7.5% |
So there is no customs duty on the cards themselves. The final call on classification belongs to customs, but on the table, cards are duty-free — and that makes everything below much simpler.
Line one: NT$2,000
For parcels that come by post, if the customs value (完稅價格) — the base figure tax is calculated on — is NT$2,000 or less, there is no customs duty, no commodity tax and no business tax. That is Article 7 of Taiwan's regulations for customs clearance of postal parcels. The exceptions, such as alcohol and tobacco, do not concern cards.
Above the line, it is not just the excess that gets taxed — the whole amount does. But because duty on cards is zero, what actually applies is business tax (營業稅), Taiwan's value added tax, at 5%.
For example, if the customs value is NT$2,100, the business tax is 5% of that: NT$105. Crossing the line adds five percent. That is all.
Assorted items vs. cards only. A parcel of assorted small items can be treated as "miscellaneous items" (零星物品) and charged a flat 5% duty, whatever they are. But goods of the same kind totalling over NT$2,000 go back to their own tariff rate. For an order of cards only, that means duty-free: duty stays at zero, and only the 5% business tax applies.
What the line is measured on
The customs value is not just the price of the goods. Taiwan Customs defines it as the free-on-board value + freight + insurance. In other words, shipping counts toward the line — and the 5% is charged on that total too.
For example, cards of NT$1,800 with NT$300 shipping come to NT$2,100. The cards alone are under the line; with shipping, the parcel is over. So the figure to watch is not your cart subtotal, but the total with shipping included.
That said, there are accounts of small postal parcels being assessed on the declared price of the goods alone. Which way it goes depends on the parcel, and it is not something the buyer chooses. So the safe way to plan is with the total including shipping — and if it comes in lower, all the better.
Same sender, same day. Two or more parcels from the same sender that arrive on the same day are added together and counted as one (Article 11). "The same day" means the date the post office records the arrival. Splitting an order does not keep the parts apart if they land on the same day.
Line two: six parcels per half-year
The exemption under NT$2,000 has a limit. If the same recipient receives parcels under it more than six times in a half-year, it stops applying from then on (Article 12). From the seventh, even a small parcel is taxable.
The half-years are fixed — January to June and July to December — and the count resets on 1 January and 1 July.
The two lines work as a pair. Splitting a large order into small ones might keep each parcel under the amount line, but every extra parcel uses one of your six.
Customs keeps the count, and its online Single Window offers a service where you can look up how many duty-free imports you have used. It needs a digital certificate, so it is not instant for everyone — but there is a way to check.
By post or by courier
The amount line and the rates work the same way for both. What changes is the procedure — who you pay, and when.
- By post: when a parcel owes tax, customs issues a small-parcel payment slip (小額郵包進口稅款繳納證) and sends it to the post office, which collects the tax on customs' behalf when it delivers (Article 10). You pay once, at your door.
- By courier (快遞): the carrier files the declaration for you, and you authorize it through the EZ WAY app after a real-name check. Without that check, the declaration is not accepted — so installing the app in advance makes collection faster.
The paperwork
Under the postal rules, the invoice — what is inside and what it cost — should travel with the parcel, outside or inside the box (Article 5). If it is missing and customs needs to check, the post office will ask you in writing to submit it, and delivery waits.
The price also needs to be written correctly. Having it written lower is not a favor: if the declaration does not match what is inside, customs can hold the parcel to check. As a buyer, look for a shop that writes down what is inside, and the price, correctly.
How we ship to Taiwan
We send to Taiwan by international mail — EMS (Express Mail Service) and a lower-cost air option. Both are postal, so everything above applies as described.
We do not collect Taiwan's taxes at our checkout. If an order is over the line, you pay once, to the post office, when it arrives. That is the ordinary shape of buying from abroad — and the amount is something you can work out in advance. See our shipping policy for the current methods and rates.
Official sources
- Regulations Governing Customs Clearance of Postal Parcels (郵包物品進出口通關辦法), Articles 5, 7–12
- Customs Import Tariff (海關進口稅則), General Rules
- Customs Single Window — tariff rate lookup (search 950440)
- Customs Administration — how business tax on imports is calculated
- Ministry of Finance — frequent imports and the half-year count
- Customs Administration — looking up your duty-free import count
- Taipei Customs — international postal parcels
- Customs Administration — real-name verification for courier imports (EZ WAY)
Last checked against official sources: 26 September 2026. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rates, thresholds and procedures change — verify the current official sources for your own situation. How a specific parcel is classified, and the value it is assessed on, are decided at clearance.