Companies in Taiwan are registered with the 經濟部商業發展署 (Administration of Commerce, Ministry of Economic Affairs). Under Article 6 of the 公司法 (Company Act), no company may be incorporated unless it has registered with the central competent authority, and Article 5 names that authority as the Ministry of Economic Affairs at central level and the reconstruction bureau of a special municipality at local level. All filings and public searches run through the 全國商工行政服務入口網 (GCIS, Commerce Industrial Services Portal) at gcis.nat.gov.tw, with the public disclosure database published separately as 商工登記公示資料查詢服務 (Business Registration Data Inquiry Service) at findbiz.nat.gov.tw.

The company registry in Taiwan

Taiwan runs three distinct registration regimes, each with its own statute, but all of them are administered by the Administration of Commerce and filed through the same GCIS portal.

  • 公司登記 (Company registration) under the 公司法 (Company Act) — for companies with legal personality, for branch offices of foreign companies and for branches of mainland Chinese enterprises.
  • 商業登記 (Business registration) under the 商業登記法 (Business Registration Act) — for unincorporated businesses. Article 3 of that Act defines a "business" as an enterprise managed in the manner of sole proprietorship or partnership for profit, and Article 2 designates the Ministry of Economic Affairs as the central authority and the special-municipality and county (city) governments as the local authorities, so these filings are made locally.
  • 有限合夥登記 (Limited partnership registration) under the 有限合夥法 (Limited Partnership Act) — a comparatively new and still rarely used vehicle.

Not every business must register. Article 4 of the Business Registration Act requires registration before a business entity may be established, but Article 5 exempts small-scale businesses: vendors, family agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal-husbandry businesses, family handiwork businesses, lodging businesses, and businesses whose monthly sales do not reach the minimum taxable sales threshold.

Every registration process begins with 預查 (name and business-scope pre-approval) through the GCIS name reservation system, after which the incorporation application is filed — increasingly through the 一站式線上申請 (one-stop online application) service, which combines company registration with tax and other formalities. Each registered entity receives a 統一編號 (unified business number), the single identifier used across Taiwanese administration. According to the portal’s own counters, the system holds in the order of 813,000 registered companies, 1,007,000 registered businesses and 235 limited partnerships.

Alongside the register itself the Company Act operates a separate transparency mechanism. Article 22-1 requires every company to report annually, by electronic transmission to an information platform established or designated by the central competent authority, the names, nationalities, dates of birth or incorporation, identification numbers and shareholdings of its directors, supervisors, managerial officers and any shareholder holding more than 10 per cent of the total shares, and to report any change within 15 days. The authority checks the reported data periodically. This platform is a supervisory tool, not a public register.

Legal forms that can be registered in Taiwan

Article 2 of the Company Act recognises four classes of company; the Act adds the close company as a sub-type of the company limited by shares, and separate statutes provide the unincorporated forms.

  • 無限公司 (Unlimited Company) — organised by two or more shareholders who bear unlimited joint and several liability for the obligations of the company.
  • 有限公司 (Limited Company) — organised by one or more shareholders, each liable only to the extent of the amount contributed. The workhorse form for small and medium enterprises.
  • 兩合公司 (Unlimited Company with Limited Liability Shareholders) — combines at least one unlimited-liability shareholder with at least one limited-liability shareholder.
  • 股份有限公司 (Company Limited by Shares) — capital divided into shares; shareholders are liable only for the shares they subscribe. The form used by larger and listed businesses.
  • 閉鎖性股份有限公司 (Closely-held Company Limited by Shares) — a non-public-offering company limited by shares whose shares are held by no more than 50 persons and whose articles of incorporation impose transfer restrictions; designed for start-ups and joint ventures.
  • 公開發行股份有限公司 (Public offering company) — not a separate legal form but a regulatory status of a company limited by shares that has made a public offering; it is additionally supervised by the securities authority.
  • 外國公司在臺分公司 (Branch office of a foreign company) — under Article 371 of the Company Act a foreign company may not conduct business in Taiwan in its own name without branch-office registration; under Article 370 it must adopt a Chinese name indicating its class and nationality.
  • 大陸地區營利事業在臺分公司 (Branch of a mainland Chinese enterprise) — registered under the specific cross-strait rules administered through the same portal.
  • 獨資 (Sole proprietorship) — an unincorporated business owned by one person, registered under the Business Registration Act with the local authority; the owner is personally liable.
  • 合夥 (Partnership) — an unincorporated business run by two or more partners, likewise registered under the Business Registration Act.
  • 有限合夥 (Limited Partnership) — registered under the Limited Partnership Act, with at least one general partner bearing unlimited liability and limited partners liable up to their contributions.

Information available from the Taiwanese registry

Article 393 of the Company Act draws the line between the public layer and the restricted layer with unusual precision. The responsible person of a company, or any interested person who states reasons, may apply to examine, transcribe or copy the contents of company registration records and the documents on file, though the authority may refuse or limit such an application where necessary.

Separately, the same article lists the particulars that must be made open to the public and that anyone may examine, transcribe or copy: the name of the company and its foreign corporate name if stated in the articles of incorporation; the scope of business; the location of the company and of any branch office; the shareholders executing the business operations or representing the company; the names of directors and supervisors and their shareholdings; the name of the manager; the amount of authorised capital stock or paid-in capital; whether there are special shares with multiple voting rights or veto power over specific matters; whether certain other classes of special share have been issued; and the articles of incorporation. Items one to nine are available on the authority’s information website to anyone; the articles of incorporation appear online only if the company agrees.

In practice this is what the findbiz service delivers. It covers five datasets — 公司 (companies), 分公司 (branch companies), 商業 (businesses), 有限合夥 (limited partnerships) and 工廠 (factories) — and supports searching by name, unified business number or factory registration number, by address, by the company’s representative, by directors, supervisors and managers, by the foreign corporate name stated in the articles of incorporation, and by historical names and numbers from 2011 onwards, with filters by county or city and by industry classification.

Financial statements are the main thing that is not published through the company register. Article 20 of the Company Act requires the annual business report, financial statements and profit-distribution proposal to be submitted to the shareholders, and requires audit and certification by a certified public accountant where the company’s equity capital exceeds a prescribed amount or the company is of a prescribed scale — but that is an internal and supervisory obligation, not registry publicity. Companies whose stock is publicly offered are instead subject to the disclosure rules of the securities authority. Beneficial-ownership-style data reported under Article 22-1 is held on the supervisory platform and is not opened to general public search.

Documents that can be obtained from the registry

  • 公司登記表 (Company registration form) — the official record sheet of a company’s registered particulars, in the setting or amendment version; the standard evidence of a company’s current status and representatives.
  • 公司登記資料抄錄本 (Transcript of company registration data) — a transcription of the registered entries applied for under Article 393, used where a full formal record is required.
  • 公司登記案卷影本 (Photocopies from the company registration file) — copies of documents held in the registration file, subject to the scope that the authority makes available to ordinary applicants.
  • 證明書 (Certificate) — an official certificate of registered particulars issued by the competent authority on application.
  • 英文證明書 (English certificate of company registration) — the English-language certificate of a company’s basic registration data, applied for on a dedicated form with an English translation attached; used for banking, tenders and transactions abroad. It can be applied for online through the Ministry’s English certificate service.
  • 公司章程 (Articles of incorporation) — the company’s constitution, available online where the company has agreed and otherwise obtainable through the transcript and copying procedure.
  • 商業登記資料 (Business registration records) — the corresponding records for sole proprietorships and partnerships, held by the local competent authority and published through findbiz.
  • 有限合夥登記資料 (Limited partnership registration records) — registration particulars of limited partnerships, likewise searchable and obtainable.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official business register in Taiwan?

The company register kept by the 經濟部商業發展署 (Administration of Commerce, Ministry of Economic Affairs). Filings go through the GCIS portal at gcis.nat.gov.tw and public data is published at findbiz.nat.gov.tw.

Are companies and sole traders in the same register?

No. Companies are registered under the Company Act with the central authority, while sole proprietorships and partnerships are registered under the Business Registration Act with the special-municipality or county (city) government. Limited partnerships have a third regime under the Limited Partnership Act. All three are searchable together on findbiz.

Can I check a Taiwanese company for free?

Yes. The particulars listed in Article 393 of the Company Act — name, business scope, address, representatives, directors and supervisors with their shareholdings, manager, capital and special-share features — are open to anyone on the authority’s information website.

Are Taiwanese company accounts public?

Not through the company register. Article 20 of the Company Act requires accounts to be approved by shareholders and, above prescribed thresholds, audited by a certified public accountant, but publicly offered companies are subject to the separate disclosure regime of the securities authority.

Does a foreign company need to register in Taiwan?

Yes, if it intends to do business there. Article 371 of the Company Act prohibits a foreign company from conducting business in Taiwan in the name of a foreign company without branch-office registration, and Article 370 requires it to adopt a Chinese name showing its class and nationality.

Who has to be reported under Article 22-1?

Directors, supervisors, managerial officers and any shareholder holding more than 10 per cent of the total shares must be reported annually to the Ministry’s information platform, with changes reported within 15 days. The data is used for supervision and is not a public search facility.

Sources

  • 公司法 (Company Act), Laws and Regulations Database of the Republic of China (Taiwan) — law.moj.gov.tw
  • 商業登記法 (Business Registration Act) — law.moj.gov.tw
  • 經濟部商業發展署 (Administration of Commerce, MOEA) — aoc.gov.tw
  • 全國商工行政服務入口網 (GCIS, Commerce Industrial Services Portal) — gcis.nat.gov.tw
  • 商工登記公示資料查詢服務 (Business Registration Data Inquiry Service) — findbiz.nat.gov.tw
  • 經濟部 — 線上申請英文證明書 (Online application for English certificates) — serv.gcis.nat.gov.tw
  • 商工行政諮詢系統 — 抄錄／影印／證明 (FAQ on transcripts, copies and certificates) — serv.gcis.nat.gov.tw

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