The primary duties of the Department of Commerce are as follows:
Formulating commercial acts and regulations
Deliberating, amending, and interpreting commercial laws and their relevant regulations, such as the Company Act, Business Mergers and Acquisitions Act, Business Registration Act, Limited Partnership Act, Business Entity Accounting Act, Commodity Labeling Act and the labeling criteria for specific products, and Electronic Game Arcade Business Regulation Act.
Planning and promoting commercial policies, and providing guidance for the business service industry
Formulating and implementing commercial policies; providing guidance for businesses to promote the development of the business service industries, including wholesale, retail, logistics, and food and beverage service. Providing grants and guiding measures to encourage service innovation in the industry and approving the application of investment tax credits for corporate R&D activities. Integrating and implementing net zero emissions measures of the commercial sector.
Handling the registration of companies
Handling the establishment, change, cancellation or nullification of companies in Taiwan; deliberating relevant registration regulations.
Developing and operating governmental commerce administrative information service
Developing and operating information systems to facilitate commercial administrative affairs for the competent authorities and the general public
Other commercial administrative related matters
Handling affairs related to anti-money laundering in the jewelry business; Handling affairs related to the coordination of commercial groups and social associations; performing the categorization review of electronic game arcade; processing consumer protection duties relevant to this ministry, as well as the amendment and inspection of standard form contracts; Handling supervision, management and performance evaluation of economic foundations governed by the Ministry.
Laws & Regulations
Commercial Subjects
Company Act, Business Mergers And Acquisitions Act
Company Act: regulates the organization, registration, and establishment related matters for profit-making companies.
Business Mergers And Acquisitions Act: this act facilitates organizational adjustments through mergers and acquisitions by enterprises.
Regulations Governing Company Registration:
These regulations are enacted pursuant to Paragraph 1 of Article 387 of the Company Act, and serve primarily to specify the documents required for company registrations.
Regulations Governing Collection of Company Registration Fees:
These Regulations are prescribed pursuant to Article 438 of the Company Act, Article 40-1 and Article 95-2 of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, and Article 10 of the Charges and Fees Act, to primarily serve as the foundation for acceptance of reservation of corporate names, registration, inspection, transcription, photocopy, and the various certificates for business operations; approval for Chinese for-profit businesses to establish branches in Taiwan; and the basis for the registration fees that should be charged.
Regulations Governing Review of Applications for Reservation of Coporate Names and Business Scopes:
These Regulations are enacted pursuant to Paragraph 5 of Article 18 of the Company Act, to primarily serve as the standard basis for reviewing application cases for reservation of corporation names and business scopes handled by the Central Region Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Regulations Governing Companies Participating in the Governmental Special Bailout Program on New Shares Issuance and Remuneration Restriction of Director, Supervisor and Managerial Personnel, and Related Matters :
Specifies that the competent authority shall adopt the necessary measures or restrictions for company participating in the special approval of the governmental bailout program during the bailout periods pursuant to Article 29, Paragraph 2 and Article 156, Paragraph 7 of the Company Act.
Criteria Governing Trust Registration of Stock by Non-Public Companies:
Specifies the stock trust registration method for non-public share offering companies pursuant to Paragraph 2 of Article 4 of the Trust Law.
Business Registration Act:
Regulates profit-making enterprises, whether sole proprietorship or operated in partnership.
Regulations Governing the Application of Business Registration:
These regulations are enacted pursuant to Paragraph 2 of Article 15 of the Business Registration Act to primarily serve as the basis of application procedures, document attachments, information, and other compliance matters for various commercial registration issues.
Regulations Governing Collection of Business Registration Fees:
These regulations were formulated to serve as a basis for the competent authority of the business site to accept business names according to these regulations, as well as the fees receivable for reservation, registration, inspection, transcription, photocopying, and various certificates pursuant to Paragraph 1 of Article 35 of the Business Registration Act in addition to Article 8 of the Charges and Fees Act.
Regulations Governing Independent Certified Public Accountant Auditing the Registered Capital Amount of Companies:
These regulations are primarily used to specify the documents that must be attached to the certified public accountant audit reports as well as the contents of the audits pursuant to Article 7 of the Company Act during company registration and capital related changes.
Notice on Inspection, Transcription and Photocopy of Company Registration Records or Documents:
These notices are primarily used to standardize the categories of information that the company, the interested parties, or any party can copy or photocopy when executing the application to inspect, transcribe, or photocopy the company registration information.
Regulations Governing Review of Applications for Reservation of Business Names and Scopes:
Primarily serves as the standard basis for the municipalities or county (city) governments to handle the review of application cases for reservation of business names and scopes pursuant to Paragraph 3 of Article 28 of the Business Registration Act.
Limited Partnership Act:
Regulates the organization, registration, and establishment related matters for limited partnership.
Regulations Governing Independent Certified Public Accountant Auditing the Registered Capital Amount of Limited Partnership:
These regulations are primarily used to specify the documents that must be attached to the certified public accountant audit reports as well as the contents of the audits pursuant to Paragraph 5 of Article 14 of the Limited Partnership Act during limited partnership registration and capital related changes.
Regulations Governing the Application of Limited Partnership Registration:
These regulations were formulated pursuant to Paragraph 3 of Article 9 of the Limited Partnership Act, and serve primarily to specify the documents required for limited partnership registrations.
Regulations Governing Review of Applications for Reservation of Limited Partnership Names and Business Scopes:
These regulations were established pursuant to Paragraph 5 of Article 13 of the Limited Partnership Act, to primarily serve as the standard basis for reviewing application cases for reservation of limited partnership names and business scopes handled by the Central Region Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Regulations Governing Fees for Limited Partnership:
These regulations were formulated pursuant to Article 43 of the Limited Partnership Act and Paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the Charges and Fees Act, which serve as a basis for charging the fees for reservation of limited partnership names and business scopes, registration, inspection, transcription, photocopying, and various certificates of a limited partnership company.
Business Counseling
Industrial and Commercial Mixed-use Zoning Principles and Application Guidelines:
The Ministry of Economic Affairs prescribed these principles and guidelines to assist the private sector to invest in the development of industrial commercial mixed-use zones, to facilitate industrial upgrading and implement economy revitalizing program.
Preferential Loan Procedures for the Distribution Service Industry and the Hospitality Industry:
Loans to encourage wholesale, retail, catering, and logistics enterprises; enhance their service capabilities or expand the scale of operation in order to increase the added value of the service industry; strengthen competitiveness; and to implement operational development plans.
Business Accounting
Business Entity Accounting Act:
Standardizes the processing of business accounting matters.
Measure for Businesses that Use Computers to Process Accounting Data :
Article 40 of the Business Entity Accounting Act provides that businesses could process all or part of their accounting information electronically, and specified its internal control, authorization, and signature/seal methods as well as the accounting data storage, safekeeping, corrections, and other related matters.
Measure for Company Account Book Applications and Audits:
Article 20, Paragraph 4 of the Company Act provided that companies must submit their business reports, financial statements, and surplus distribution or loss subsidization proposals to the shareholders for approval or to a general shareholder meeting for notification at the end of each fiscal year. The competent authority shall dispatch personnel to conduct reviews at any time or order a report submission deadline.
Regulation on Business Entity Accounting Handling:
These regulations provide specifications for general business accounting certificates, accounting subjects, and account books or financial statements as well as their names, formats, preparations, etc., pursuant to Article 13 of the Business Entity Accounting Act.
Regulations Governing Auditing and Attestation of Financial Statements by Certified Public Accountants:
These regulations specify the rules for accountant audit and approval of company financial statements, pursuant to Article 20, Paragraph 2 of the Company Act.
Regulations for Limited Liability Companies Share Issuance Certificates:
These regulations specify the rules for the share certificates, pursuant to Article 162, Paragraph 3 of the Company Act.
Business Management
Electronic Game Arcade Business Regulation Act:
This Act is duly codified to regulate the electronic game arcade businesses, and to safeguard social peace, good custom, public safety, and the physical and mental health of citizens.
Commodity Labeling
Commodity Labeling Act:
This act was enacted to promote the proper labeling of commodities, to maintain the reputations of business operators, protect the interests of consumers, and establish good business practices.
11 types of labeling criteria for specific commodity:
The labeling criteria provide the relevant issues and methods for the labeling of specific commodities pursuant to Article 11 of the Commodity Labeling Act.
Cross-strait Affairs
Regulations on the Exercise of Shareholder Rights for Taiwan Companies in Mainland China:
These regulations provide the rules for exercising shareholder rights by shareholders who held shares for companies in Taiwan, and who remained in the Mainland China region when the government moved to Taiwan.
Regulations Governing Permission to Engage in Commercial Activity in Mainland China:
These measures provide the rules for Taiwanese people, corporations, associations, or other organizations to engage in the announced and permitted commercial activities pursuant to Article 35, Paragraph 4 of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.
Regulations Governing the Permission of Establishing Branches or Agencies in Taiwan by Commercial Enterprise in Mainland Area:
These regulations primarily regulate the documents that must be attached for commercial enterprise in Mainland area to establish a branch company or agencies in Taiwan, pursuant to Article 40, Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.
Economic Foundations
Regulations for Management and Supervision of Economic Foundations Governed by Ministry of Economic Affairs:
These regulations specify the rules for the management and supervision of Economic Foundations governed by Ministry of Economic Affairs, pursuant to Article 9, Article 21, Paragraph 3, Article 24, Paragraph 3, Article 61, Paragraph 2, and Article 63, Paragraph 3 of the Foundation Act.
Ethical Management Principles for Economic Foundations Governed by Ministry of Economic Affairs:
These principles provide specifications for the Economic foundations Governed by Ministry of Economic Affairs whose registered total property or annual income is above certain amount to establish their Codes for Ethical Management, pursuant to Article 24, Paragraph 3 of the Foundation Act.