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Q1: What are illicit cigarettes and illicit alcohol?

A1: “Illicit cigarettes and illicit alcohol” refer to any of the following:

(1) Tobacco or alcohol products manufactured without obtaining the required license in accordance with the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act. This does not include non-commercial tobacco or alcohol samples that are supported by research or trial-production records and are not commercially packaged.

(2) Tobacco or alcohol products imported without obtaining the required license in accordance with the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act.

(3) Tobacco or alcohol products manufactured by a tobacco or alcohol manufacturer at a location other than the factory address specified on its license.

(4) Tobacco or alcohol products that have been legally licensed for importation but were not declared to customs, or for which the declared quantity was concealed or underreported by an amount exceeding the prescribed threshold.

(5) Tobacco or alcohol products transported by a Republic of China fishing vessel that are not for personal use or exceed the prescribed quantity.

Q2: Can tobacco and alcohol products that have passed their expiration date or validity period continue to be sold? What are the penalties for violations?

A2: Tobacco and alcohol products that have passed their expiration date or validity period may not be sold. Manufacturers and importers of tobacco and alcohol products who violate this regulation are subject to a fine of NT$50,000 to NT$250,000. Tobacco and alcohol retailers who violate the regulation are subject to a fine of NT$10,000 to NT$50,000.

The competent authority will notify the violator to recall and destroy the products within a specified period. Failure to comply by the deadline will result in additional penalties for each violation.

Q3: Can tobacco and alcohol products purchased at the airport be resold?

A3: Duty-free tobacco and alcohol products purchased at airports may only be used personally or given as gifts and may never be resold.

Under the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act, anyone who illegally resells duty-free tobacco or alcohol products is subject to a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$500,000. If the value of the seized products exceeds NT$500,000, the maximum fine may be NT$6 million.

Q4: What are the penalties for arriving passengers who carry tobacco or alcohol products exceeding the duty-free allowance?

A4: If arriving passengers carry tobacco or alcohol products exceeding the duty-free allowance—200 cigarettes (1 carton), 25 cigars, 1 pound of tobacco (approximately 0.453 kg), 200 units (1 carton) of heated tobacco products that have passed the health risk assessment, and 1.5 liters of alcoholic beverages—and fail to declare them to customs as required, the tobacco and alcohol products exceeding the duty-free allowance will be confiscated by customs.

Customs will impose a fine of NT$500 to NT$5,000 for each carton of cigarettes or approved heated tobacco products, each pound of tobacco, each 25 cigars, or each liter of alcohol. The penalties under the Customs Anti-Smuggling Act do not apply. The applicable penalty standards are as shown in the table below.

Item	New Taiwan Dollars / Unit	Unit
Tobacco Products
Cigars or health-risk-assessed heated tobacco products	NT$1,000	Case (200 sticks)
Tobacco shreds	NT$3,000	Kilogram
Snow Lotus – Non-rolled	NT$500	25 sticks
Snow Lotus – Rolled	NT$4,000	25 sticks
Alcoholic Beverages
Alcohol content ≤ 10%	NT$500	Liter
Alcohol content > 10%	NT$2,000	Liter

Q5: Can tobacco and alcohol products be sold online?

A5: According to Paragraph 1, Article 30 of the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act and Paragraph 1, Article 8 of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act, tobacco and alcohol products may not be sold through vending machines, mail-order sales, e-commerce, or any other method that makes it impossible to verify the consumer’s age, such as social media platforms including Facebook and LINE.

The purpose of these regulations is to protect the health of minors. Since it is difficult to verify the age of purchasers online, such transactions may create regulatory loopholes. Therefore, the law expressly prohibits these types of transactions.

Violators are subject to a fine of NT$10,000 to NT$50,000, and additional fines may be imposed for each violation.