By Nick Lung.    Photo：Mizzu  Cho 

The Chinese New Year in 2023 is coming, and Team Global Logistics hereby wishes all readers to have bright and great luck in the Year of the Rabbit.

I believe that most of the readers who pay attention to Team Global Logistics weekly blog have overseas travel experience, so you might also know the limit of cigarettes and alcohol that individuals can bring when entering the country; of course, individuals can also import alcohol and tobacco from abroad. When importing for self-use exceeds the limit, the importer must hold a tobacco and alcohol import business license to import, so how much can be imported in small quantities?

*A small amount of imported foreign tobacco and alcohol is exempted from the license requirements

For the import of foreign tobacco and alcohol as a gift or for personal use (including exhibits), the quantity does not exceed the following regulations, and the importer does not need to attach a copy of the tobacco and alcohol import business license when importing:

(1) Tobacco: five cigarettes (1,000 sticks), 125 cigars, and 5 pounds of shredded tobacco. (Imported tobacco products must provide a detailed list of tobacco products)

(2) Liquor: within five liters in total, with a total price of less than US$1,000.

*Because of the 311 Tsunami, some counties and cities in Japan were affected by the nuclear disaster. Therefore, if you want to import alcohol made in Japan, you need to obtain the permission of the National Treasury Administration

In addition to knowing a small amount of import restrictions, you must know the "tobacco and alcohol tax"

According to Article 1 and Article 3 of the Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Law, only "tobacco" and "alcohol" that comply with the law are subject to tobacco and alcohol tax. Regardless of domestic production or import from abroad, tobacco and alcohol taxes should be levied "at the time of delivery" or "at the time of import".

So how should tobacco and alcohol tax be calculated?

Tobacco and alcohol tax = taxable amount of each tobacco/alcohol taxable item * input import quantity (unit: alcohol-liter/cigarette-stick)

For example:

Import 6 bottles of 750 liters of wine from abroad with an alcohol by volume of 16%

Tobacco and alcohol tax: 7 NTD * alcohol content (degree) 16 * import total liter 4.5 = 504 NTD

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