Taiwan Company Lookup: Filed Data and Posted Data

A Taiwan company lookup runs through the 全國商工行政服務入口網, the national commerce and industry administration service portal at gcis.nat.gov.tw, operated by the 經濟部商業發展署 — the Commerce Development Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, at 100210 臺北市中正區福州街15號. Public registration data is queried through 商工登記公示資料查詢服務, and open data sits on 商工行政資料開放平臺. This guide covers a distinction the portal draws inside its own menu, and a rule about seals that a foreign reader would otherwise get wrong. If you need the Taiwanese population rather than one company at a time, the Taiwan business database covers the same registered companies described as a dataset, with industry, size and contact breakdowns attached.

Taiwan company lookup: the short version

• The portal's 公司登記查詢 menu carries eleven named services, including basic company and branch data, name pre-checks, case progress, downloadable registers, and company statistics.
• One of them is 廠商自行登載事項 — items the firm itself posted — a distinct service alongside registered data.
• The same menu carries 企業併購資料查詢, a merger and acquisition data search, and 個人擔任董監事、經理人之公司資料查詢, a search for the companies in which an individual serves as director, supervisor or manager.
• An online-issued registration form bearing no seal has the same legal effect as the sealed paper one.

A separate service for what the firm posted

The portal's company registration menu lists these services:

公司及分公司基本資料查詢 — basic company and branch data · 公司名稱暨所營事業預查輔助查詢 — assisted pre-check of company name and business scope · 公司預查案件進度查詢 — pre-check case progress · 公司登記案件進度查詢 — registration case progress · 公司登記資料相關清冊下載 — download of registers related to registration data · 廠商自行登載事項 — items the firm itself posted · 公司登記資料檢視（需使用工商憑證） — viewing registration data, requiring a business certificate · 個人擔任董監事、經理人之公司資料查詢 — company data for individuals serving as director, supervisor or manager · 公司統計資料查詢 — company statistics · 企業併購資料查詢 — merger and acquisition data.

Sitting among them, with its own entry, is 廠商自行登載事項 — literally items the firm itself posted.

That distinction is the page, and what this page says about it is limited to the distinction. The sources give the service name and nothing else. They do not say what a firm may post, who posts it, whether anything checks it, how it is displayed, or how it relates to the registered record. So this page does not say any of that either.

What can be said, and is worth saying, is why a register drawing this line inside its own menu matters to anyone using its data. Filed-and-approved and posted-by-the-subject are two different provenances. A registration entry has passed through a registration process. Something a firm posted about itself has passed through whatever the portal requires for posting — and the portal has chosen to keep the two in separate services rather than merge them into one view. A reader who flattens them into one field has discarded a distinction the register itself maintains.

One US register in this series draws a comparable line, and the kinship is worth one sentence with its limits attached. The Minnesota business lookup guide covers an office that publishes a voluntary survey alongside its register and states on the collection form that it does not independently verify the answers applicants provide — filed facts and reported facts, from one office, labelled. Taiwan gives self-posted content its own service. Two registers distinguishing provenance inside themselves, and this page does not claim they work the same way — Minnesota states a verification position, Taiwan's sources state only that the category exists.

An unsealed form is not a lesser document

The second finding settles something a foreign reader would reasonably assume wrongly.

"線上申辦公司登記案件，完成登記後所核發無蓋具大小印鑑章之公司登記表，與以紙本方式申辦完成登記後所核發蓋有大小印鑑章之紙本公司登記表具同一效力。"

For company registration cases applied for online, the company registration form issued after registration is completed, bearing no large or small seal impression, has the same legal effect as the paper company registration form issued after a paper application, which bears the seals.

In a jurisdiction where a seal traditionally carries authority, the absence of one on a document invites a reader to treat it as provisional, informal, or a copy. The administration states directly that it is none of those: same effect, sealed or not.

What a Taiwanese company register entry contains

A self-contained summary. Taiwan's company registration is administered by the 經濟部商業發展署, the Commerce Development Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, at 100210 臺北市中正區福州街15號, through the 全國商工行政服務入口網 at gcis.nat.gov.tw, with public registration data queried through 商工登記公示資料查詢服務 and open data on the 商工行政資料開放平臺. The company registration query services listed are 公司及分公司基本資料查詢, 公司名稱暨所營事業預查輔助查詢, 公司預查案件進度查詢, 公司登記案件進度查詢, 公司登記資料相關清冊下載, 廠商自行登載事項, 公司登記資料檢視 (which requires a 工商憑證), 個人擔任董監事、經理人之公司資料查詢, 公司統計資料查詢 and 企業併購資料查詢. The portal also carries 公司名稱預查, 本國公司登記, 外國公司登記在臺分公司, 辦事處, a search system for business item codes for companies, firms and limited partnerships, the 商工行政資料開放平台, 線上企業開辦, a one-stop online application process for companies, businesses and limited partnerships, and 工商憑證申請. For company registration cases applied for online, the registration form issued after completion bearing no large or small seal impression has the same legal effect as the paper form issued after a paper application bearing the seals. A standing notice on the portal states that business tax notices sent in the name of 經濟部商業發展署 or 經濟部商業司 are fraudulent and should be deleted immediately. The service line is (02) 4121166, Monday to Friday 8:30–17:30 excluding public holidays. This summary does not describe what any of these services returns, because no field list or output description was established from the administration's own pages on the date shown.

Tiered access, and what needs a certificate

A workflow distinction worth knowing before planning anything.

公司及分公司基本資料查詢 — basic company and branch data — is one service on the public menu. 公司登記資料檢視 is another, and its menu entry carries its own condition: 需使用工商憑證, requiring a business certificate.

So the portal is tiered: basic data on one route, a fuller view of registration data on a route gated by a certificate. This page does not explain what a 工商憑證 is or how it is obtained — that was not sourced, and the portal separately lists 工商憑證申請 as its own service.

Beyond the query menu, the portal carries 公司名稱預查 (company name pre-check), 本國公司登記 (domestic company registration), 外國公司登記在臺分公司 and 辦事處 (foreign company registration of branches and offices in Taiwan), a search system for business item codes covering companies, firms and limited partnerships, the 商工行政資料開放平台, 線上企業開辦 (online business start-up), a one-stop online application process for companies, businesses and limited partnerships, and 工商憑證申請.

Where a Taiwan lookup stops

Two of the most interesting entries on that menu are, for this page, only names.

企業併購資料查詢 — a merger and acquisition data search — and 個人擔任董監事、經理人之公司資料查詢 — a search for the companies in which an individual serves as director, supervisor or manager. Both are unusual services for a national registry to offer on a public menu. What either returns is not described here, because the sources list them without describing their output.

The same applies to the downloadable 清冊 and to 廠商自行登載事項 itself. TAIWAN_REPORT.md flags the last of these first: the self-posted category is this page's angle, and the sources give only its name.

One neutral line the administration carries on its own pages, and which anyone dealing with Taiwanese counterparties should know: a standing notice states that business tax notices sent in the name of 經濟部商業發展署 or 經濟部商業司 are fraudulent and should be deleted immediately. That is the administration's own notice, reproduced without elaboration. The service line is (02) 4121166, Monday to Friday 8:30–17:30 excluding public holidays.

One structural note. This guide links to the Taiwanese business database rather than to a /companies/taiwan directory, because no such directory exists in the catalogue. The down-link axis is served by /b2b-data/taiwan, and the report records the /companies axis as skipped.

Where the question is a population rather than a company, a firmographic directory covers the same registered companies with classification, size and contact data attached and queryable as a set; the Asia company directory breaks the regional file down by market.

Data quality pitfalls to avoid in Taiwan

Flattening posted content into registered data. The portal keeps 廠商自行登載事項 as a separate service from registration data, and merging them discards a distinction the register maintains.

Assuming what the self-posted service contains. Its contents, its posting rules and any checking are not established here.

Treating an unsealed online form as provisional. The administration states it has the same legal effect as the sealed paper form.

Planning around the fuller registration view without a certificate. 公司登記資料檢視 carries the condition 需使用工商憑證.

Assuming the M&A or person searches return what you expect. Both are listed by name only; their outputs are not described here.

Acting on a tax notice from the administration. Its own standing notice says such notices sent in its name are fraudulent and should be deleted immediately.

A repeatable Taiwan company lookup workflow

1. Start with 公司及分公司基本資料查詢 for basic company and branch data.
2. Keep anything from 廠商自行登載事項 in a separate field from registered data.
3. Arrange a 工商憑證 before planning work that needs 公司登記資料檢視.
4. Treat an unsealed online registration form as fully effective.
5. Check the person and M&A searches for availability before designing around them, since their outputs are not documented here.
6. Ignore any tax notice arriving in the administration's name, per its own standing notice.

Frequently asked questions

What is 廠商自行登載事項?

A service listed on the portal's company registration query menu, alongside registered data. This page states that the category exists and is kept separate from registration data; what may be posted, by whom, and whether it is checked were not established from the sources read.

Is an online registration form without seals valid?

Yes. The administration states that the form issued after an online application, bearing no large or small seal impression, has the same legal effect as the sealed paper form issued after a paper application.

Can I search which companies a person is a director of?

The menu lists 個人擔任董監事、經理人之公司資料查詢 — a search for company data on individuals serving as director, supervisor or manager. What it returns is not described here.

Is there merger and acquisition data?

The menu lists 企業併購資料查詢. Its output is not described here.

What needs a business certificate?

公司登記資料檢視 carries the condition 需使用工商憑證. This page does not explain what that certificate is or how to obtain it.

Is there open data?

The portal carries the 商工行政資料開放平臺, the commerce and industry administration open data platform.

I received a tax notice from the administration. Is it genuine?

The administration's own standing notice states that business tax notices sent in the name of 經濟部商業發展署 or 經濟部商業司 are fraudulent and should be deleted immediately.

Source Register

Every Chinese passage above is reproduced in traditional characters as the sources write them, read on the date shown, with an English gloss beside it rather than in place of it. No amount appears anywhere in this page's prose.

The restraint on 廠商自行登載事項 is absolute and deliberate. The sources give the service name. This page says the category exists, says it is kept separate from registered data, and explains why that separation matters to a data user — and says nothing about what can be posted, who posts it, whether it is verified, or how it is displayed. TAIWAN_REPORT.md flags it first, naming what would confirm it.

The readings that are InfobelPRO's rather than the administration's: that filed-and-approved and posted-by-the-subject are two different provenances, and that a reader who flattens them into one field has discarded a distinction the register itself maintains. That is ours. The comparison with Minnesota notes only that two registers distinguish provenance inside themselves, and states explicitly that this page does not claim the two work the same way.