The National Taxation Bureau of Taipei, Ministry of Finance states that when taxpayers are dissatisfied with the tax assessments made by tax authority, they may apply for rechecks in accordance with Article 35 of the Tax Collection Act. After the original competent authority makes a recheck decision, if taxpayers remain dissatisfied, they may file administrative appeals with the Ministry of Finance through the original competent authority in accordance with Article 14 of the Administrative Appeal Act. However, attention should be paid to the statutory deadline for filing administrative appeals.

The Bureau explains that when taxpayers apply for recheck under Article 35 of the Tax Collection Act, if the recheck application is sent through the postal service, the application date is determined based on “the postmark of the mailing date.” However, if they remain dissatisfied with the recheck decision, according to Paragraphs 1 and 3, Article 14 of the Administrative Appeal Act, they shall file administrative appeals with the Ministry of Finance through  the original competent authority within 30 days from the following day of receipt of the recheck decision. Whether the administrative appeal is filed by mail, through an agent, or delivered in person, the date is nevertheless determined by “the actual date of receipt by the receiving agency.”

The Bureau provides the following example: Company A’s 2019 business income tax case was assessed additional tax of  NT$100,000. Company A was dissatisfied with the assessment and applied for recheck under Article 35 of the Tax Collection Act. After the Bureau made its recheck decision, the recheck decision letter and tax payment notice were received by Company A on March 22, 2023. Company A remained dissatisfied with the Bureau’s recheck decision and filed an administrative appeal. According to Article 14 of the Administrative Appeal Act, the appeal should have been filed with the Ministry of Finance within 30 days (by April 21, 2023) from the following day of receipt of the recheck decision. However, Company A mistakenly believed that submitting the application for administrative appeal to the postal service on April 21, 2023 would suffice. As a result, the Ministry of Finance did not receive the application for administrative appeal until April 23, 2023, which exceeded the statutory immutable period for administrative appeals. Consequently, the Ministry of Finance issued a decision not to accept the appeal.

The Bureau would like to remind taxpayers that when they are dissatisfied with the tax assessments made by tax authority, and wish to pursue administrative remedies, they should pay special attention to statutory deadline requirements to avoid the adverse consequence of non-acceptance due to late filing, which would affect their rights.

(Contact: Ms. Dai, Revenue Assessor of Legal Affairs Division; Tel: +886-2-2311-3711 ext. 2022)