Moving from Ireland to Taiwan (2026): Complete Guide

Relocating from Ireland to Taiwan is a two-country project, and getting it right means treating it as two separate customs jobs joined by a long sea or air leg. On the Irish side you are exporting personal belongings out of the European Union and closing off your Irish tax position. On the Taiwanese side you are importing those same belongings under rules set by Taiwan’s Customs Administration, with your immigration status deciding how generously you are treated. This guide covers both halves in full — the departure paperwork in Ireland and the arrival paperwork in Taiwan — plus pets, vehicles, money and a short note on moving back the other way. It is written for a resident of Ireland (Irish or foreign national) making the move to Taiwan.

Key takeaways

• Ireland’s tax and customs authority is Revenue (Cáin agus Custaim na hÉireann), which handles both your export formalities and your tax exit (Revenue Customs).
• Goods leaving Ireland for Taiwan leave the EU customs territory and need an electronic export declaration lodged with Revenue — normally filed for you by your removal or freight agent (Revenue importing and exporting).
• Your Irish tax residence turns on day-count tests: 183 days in a tax year, or 280 days across two years (Revenue TDM Part 34-00-01).
• In Taiwan, unaccompanied personal effects must be shipped within six months before or after you arrive and declared on the red channel (Taiwan Customs — unaccompanied baggage).
• Taiwan gives a NT$35,000 duty-free allowance on qualifying used household and personal items, with clearance due within 15 days of the shipment’s arrival (Taiwan Customs).
• Cats and dogs from Ireland (a rabies-free country) need a microchip, rabies vaccination and an import quarantine permit applied for at least 20 days before arrival (APHIA).
• Carrying €10,000 or more in cash out of the EU must be declared to Revenue (Revenue cash controls).

1. Your Taiwan visa status sets the customs terms

Before touching a single box, understand that Taiwan’s customs treatment of your belongings follows your immigration status. Taiwan’s Bureau of Consular Affairs distinguishes between visitor visas (short stays) and resident visas, and it is the resident visa — leading to an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) — that marks you as someone genuinely relocating rather than visiting (BOCA visas).

This matters because the duty-free treatment of separately shipped household goods is built around inbound passengers who declare their effects on arrival (Taiwan Customs inbound clearance). If you fly in as a tourist and only later regularise your stay, you may fall outside the passenger-effects window. Line up your resident visa first, know your intended entry date, and ship so your belongings land inside the permitted timeframe (see section 4).

2. The Ireland export side: Revenue, your tax exit and the export declaration

The authority. Everything on the Irish side runs through Revenue, which is simultaneously Ireland’s customs service and its tax administration (Revenue Customs). There is no separate customs agency to deal with.

The export declaration. Because Taiwan sits outside the EU, your shipment is a formal export. Goods leaving the EU must be covered by an electronic customs export declaration lodged with Revenue through the EU-wide export system (Revenue importing and exporting). A private mover almost never files this personally — your international removal company or freight forwarder, who holds an EORI number, prepares and submits it as part of the service. There is no Irish export duty on your own used belongings; the declaration is a control formality, not a tax bill. Give your agent an accurate, valued inventory so the declaration matches the container.

There is no "deregistration." Unlike many European countries, Ireland keeps no compulsory residents’ population register that you sign out of, and your PPS number stays with you for life — you never cancel it. Your real "leaving" admin is with Revenue and social services, not a town hall.

Your tax exit. Irish tax residence is decided by counting days. Under section 819 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 you are resident for a tax year if you spend at least 183 days in Ireland that year, or at least 280 days across that year and the previous one (the "look-back rule"); a year in which you are present for 30 days or fewer does not count towards the 280 (Revenue TDM Part 34-00-01). Being present for any part of a day counts as a full day. Separately, ordinary residence describes a longer pattern: once resident for three consecutive years you become ordinarily resident, and you only cease to be ordinarily resident after three consecutive years of non-residence (Revenue TDM Part 34-00-01). That means you can leave for Taiwan and still be taxable in Ireland on certain income for a few years.

Tell Revenue you are leaving. Depending on when in the year you go, split-year treatment can apply so your foreign employment income after departure is not taxed in Ireland, and you may be due a tax refund for your final part-year (Revenue — leaving Ireland). Keep your PPS number handy for any refund claim.

3. Ports and transit: how your container actually travels

Ireland’s dominant export gateway is Dublin Port, which handles around 80% of the Republic’s unitised (container and trailer) freight (Dublin Port). Deep-sea container capacity also runs through the Port of Cork at Ringaskiddy, with Rosslare Europort and Shannon Foynes serving other trades. Whichever port your goods leave from, there is no direct Ireland-to-Taiwan sailing: your container is fed to a large European hub (Rotterdam, Antwerp or Hamburg) and transshipped onward to Taiwan’s main gateways at Kaohsiung, Keelung, Taichung or Taipei, all served by their own customs offices (Taiwan Customs).

The following transit ranges are freight-industry estimates, not official figures, and vary with carrier schedules, hub congestion and season:

• Sea freight, port to port: roughly 35–50 days for a full or shared container, driven mainly by the transshipment leg.
• Sea freight, door to door: commonly 8–14 weeks once Irish collection, export clearance, the voyage, Taiwanese clearance and final delivery are added.
• Air freight: about 5–10 days in transit, or roughly 2–3 weeks door to door — far faster, far dearer, and sensible only for a small essentials shipment.

Plan your pet and your own flights around the slower reality of sea freight, and keep a cabin-bag survival kit for the weeks before the container lands.

4. The Taiwan import side: the declaration and the six-month window

Taiwan treats belongings you ship separately from yourself as unaccompanied baggage. The core rule is timing: those items may be shipped up to six months before you arrive, or within six months after your entry — ship outside that window and they lose passenger status and are cleared as ordinary commercial cargo (Taiwan Customs — unaccompanied baggage).

The process:

1. Declare on arrival. When you land, go to the red (goods to declare) channel and complete the Republic of China Customs Declaration Form (中華民國海關申報單), listing your incoming unaccompanied shipment (Taiwan Customs inbound clearance). Fail to declare it and you forfeit the duty-free treatment.
2. Clear the shipment on time. Once the vessel or aircraft carrying your goods arrives, customs clearance must be lodged within 15 days of the day after its arrival; late filing draws a penalty of NT$200 per day (Taiwan Customs).
3. Use your allowance. Qualifying used household goods and personal-use items carry a duty-free exemption of NT$35,000; value above that is assessed for duty (Taiwan Customs).

Your Taiwanese customs broker (usually arranged through your Irish mover’s local partner) will need your passport, entry/exit record, ARC or resident visa, and a detailed valued packing list. Because the NT$35,000 allowance is modest, an honest, itemised inventory is your best protection against surprise assessments on a full household load.

5. Pets: dogs and cats, both ends

Taiwan’s pet imports are run by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIA), and the requirements differ by the origin country’s rabies status (APHIA). Ireland is recognised as rabies-free — confirm your pet’s status against APHIA’s current country list before booking — which puts you on the simpler pathway:

• Microchip implanted first (all identification keys off this).
• Rabies vaccination with an inactivated or licensed vaccine, given between 30 days and one year before import, with the animal over 90 days old at vaccination (APHIA quarantine requirements).
• Import quarantine permit, applied for at the quarantine authority at the port of entry at least 20 days before arrival, through APHIA’s online system (pet e-permit).
• An official export veterinary certificate from Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, plus, on arrival, a copy of the permit, the original export certificate and a copy of the bill of lading/air waybill or customs declaration (APHIA).

For animals arriving compliant from a rabies-free country, Taiwan does not impose post-entry quarantine detention. The rabies neutralising-antibody titre test (minimum 0.5 IU/ml) and long facility quarantine apply to animals coming from countries not recognised as rabies-free — a reason to keep your pet’s paperwork continuous while in Ireland. Note that APHIA revised its dog and cat import permit on 5 January 2026 (both the old and new versions are accepted until 1 January 2027), so always work from the current online form.

Moving a pet the other way (Taiwan to Ireland) is stricter: the EU requires a valid rabies vaccination and, because Taiwan is not an EU-listed rabies-free third country, a rabies antibody titre test — check Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine well ahead.

6. Vehicles, money and the things people forget

Vehicles. Shipping an Irish car to Taiwan is rarely worthwhile: right-hand-drive Irish cars face left-hand-drive Taiwan, and imported vehicles meet Taiwanese homologation, testing and duty rules. Most movers sell up in Ireland. If you are set on it, treat the car as a separate customs project with its own broker.

Money. If you carry €10,000 or more in cash (including certain cheques and gold) out of the EU, you must declare it to Revenue on departure (Revenue cash controls). Taiwan has its own inbound cash-declaration thresholds — declare on the same customs form if you are carrying large sums.

Easily forgotten. Redirect post and cancel Irish direct debits; settle your final Revenue position and claim any refund (Revenue — leaving Ireland); tell the Department of Social Protection and any Irish pension provider; keep your PPS number safe; and gather apostilled birth, marriage and qualification documents, which are painful to obtain once you are in Taipei.

How Flyto handles your Ireland to Taiwan move

Flyto runs its own offices, warehouses, crews and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, so the Irish collection, packing and export-clearance stages are handled directly by our own operation. For the long haul and the Taiwan arrival we combine a carefully chosen network of vetted freight partners and subcontractors with trusted local agents in Taiwan who manage customs clearance and final delivery. We coordinate the whole corridor end to end — we simply do not pretend to own every truck on both sides of the world.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the whole move take?
Budget 8–14 weeks door to door by sea, or 2–3 weeks by air — both freight-industry estimates, not guarantees, because your container transships through a European hub with no direct Ireland–Taiwan service (Dublin Port).

When should my shipment arrive relative to me?
Within six months before or after your own arrival in Taiwan; outside that window your goods lose passenger duty-free status (Taiwan Customs).

Will I pay duty on my used furniture?
Qualifying used household and personal items get a NT$35,000 duty-free allowance; value above that is assessed, so declare honestly with a valued inventory (Taiwan Customs).

Do I need to do the export declaration myself?
No. Your removal or freight agent lodges the EU export declaration with Revenue on your behalf (Revenue).

Am I still taxed in Ireland after I leave?
Possibly. Residence turns on the 183-day and 280-day tests, and ordinary residence can keep you partly taxable for up to three years after departure (Revenue TDM Part 34-00-01).

Can I bring my dog?
Yes — microchip, rabies vaccination and an import permit applied for at least 20 days before arrival; compliant pets from rabies-free Ireland avoid quarantine detention (APHIA).

Sources

• Revenue — Customs
• Revenue — Importing and exporting
• Revenue — Tax and Duty Manual Part 34-00-01, Residence of Individuals
• Revenue — Leaving Ireland
• Revenue — Travelling with or sending cash
• Revenue — Transfer of residence
• Dublin Port
• Taiwan Customs Administration (English)
• Taiwan Customs — Inbound passenger clearance guidelines
• Taiwan Customs — Unaccompanied baggage / personal effects
• APHIA — Quarantine for dogs and cats
• APHIA — Pet import e-permit system
• Taiwan Bureau of Consular Affairs — Visas