The National Taxation Bureaus of the Ministry of Finance and local taxation authorities in all six municipalities have been accepting inquiries of the decedent's financial estate lists from estate taxpayers. Since September 1, 2021, the National Taxation Bureau shall be responsible for replying the inquiry results, and the applicants can also download information online. The public have more ways to inquire, and the ways of responses are more convenient!

The National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, Ministry of Finance, further explained that in the past, an taxpayer inquiring about the decedent's financial estate lists had to go to the general service counter of the National Taxation Bureau or the jurisdiction branch, office or service office, or the local taxing authority in the six municipalities to apply for the information over the counter. The application information is then forwarded to each financial institution for it to provide the inquiry results back to the applicant, respectively. Thus, it is extremely time-consuming and inconvenient for the public to wait for and receive a large amount of information from financial institutions. In order to improve the past practice, in addition to maintaining the over-the-counter application, from September 1 of this year, there are new measures to provide application and reply as follows:
I. Add more application methods 
   A taxpayer can apply through the "eTax Portal Ministry of Finance", (https://www.etax.nat.gov.tw) with a Citizen Digital Certificate or a NHI card that has been registered for the "NHI Card Online Service."
II. Replied by National Taxation Bureau's one-stop service
   The results of financial estate inquiries are no longer replied by each financial institution, but are provided in the following three ways to the applicant:
 (1)Download is available with a Citizen Digital Certificate, a NHI card, or an electronic certificate approved by the Ministry of Finance by vising the "Financial Estate Electronic Data Filing Service" section of "The e-Filing and Tax Payment Service of the Ministry of Finance" (https://tax.nat.gov.tw). The data download period is 90 days from "30 working days after application".
 (2)Download the "Estate Tax Electronic Application Software" from "The e-Filing and Tax Payment Service of the Ministry of Finance,” using the Citizen Digital Certificate, NHI card, or other electronic certificate approved by the Ministry of Finance of the decedent's spouse or child as the access code. Or download information by using the "inquiry reference code for the decedent's estate" issued over-the-counter by the National Taxation Bureau, with the "decedent's ID number," "the decedent's date of death" and "the ID number of the inquiry reference code's applicant." The data download period is from "30 working days after the application" to "9 months after the date of death of the decedent." 
(3) Replied to the applicant by registered mail from the National Taxation Bureau.

In addition, after the application to the taxation authority has been accepted, the public can check the current processing progress by using the "Application Serial Number" and the "decedent's ID number" in the "Financial Estate Electronic Data Filing Service" section of  "The e-Filing and Tax Payment Service of the Ministry of Finance."

The National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, reminded the public that after receiving the financial estate reference list mailed by the National Taxation Bureau or downloaded by themselves, they should file an estate tax return along with the immovable property owned by the decedent (e.g., land, houses), gifts given two years prior to death, and other items that should be included in the estate or deductions, in accordance with the Estate and Gift Tax Act, or apply for an extension for filing a tax return within the deadline, to avoid being penalized for late filing.

The National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, once again urged the public to make good use of the National Taxation Bureau's new measure of one-stop service for replying the decedent's financial estate information, applying and downloading the decedent's estate and financial estate information online, and then filing the tax return online through the downloaded estate tax e-filing software. During the pandemic period, the public can easily complete the inquiries about the decedent's estate and the tax return filing at home, avoiding going out and taking into account the epidemic prevention.

If the public has any questions regarding financial estate inquiries and estate tax return filing, please visit the "One-Stop Service for Financial Estate Inquiries" section on the Bureau's website or call the toll-free service line at 0800-000-321 for assistance.

Contact: Ms. Zhu, Head of the Second Examination Division.
Tel: 07-7256600ext.7280