Taiwan's 11-Digit Tariff Code: What Each Part Means

A supplier sends you their eight-digit code and it looks close enough to Taiwan's eleven. It is not, and the way people bridge the gap — truncating or padding with zeros — lands on the wrong subdivision often enough to matter. Understanding which digits are shared and which are not is what makes a foreign code usable.

Last updated:2026-08

Six digits international, five digits Taiwan

Position	Name	Set by	Same worldwide
1–2	Chapter	World Customs Organization	Yes
3–4	Heading	WCO	Yes
5–6	Subheading	WCO	Yes
7–8	National subheading	Taiwan	No
9–10	Statistical suffix	Taiwan	No
11	Check digit	Taiwan	No

The division falls after digit six. Everything to the left is a shared international language; everything to the right is Taiwan's own, and carries no meaning in any other country's schedule.

The eleventh digit is not a classification at all — it validates that the preceding ten were transcribed correctly.

What the shared prefix enables

Cross-border comparison without translation. Identify a product's classification in one country and the first six digits transfer directly.

This is the technical basis of the Malaysia import duty calculator on this site: a Chinese-language product name is matched against Taiwan's schedule, which carries Chinese descriptions, the first six digits are taken, and the Malaysian lines sharing that subheading are retrieved.

This is more reliable than translating the product name. A keyword translation gambles on the destination schedule using the same term; the six-digit bridge captures every national subdivision beneath that subheading regardless of how it is worded locally.

Using a supplier's code

Suppliers routinely provide a tariff code from their own market — eight digits in the EU, ten in the US, and so on. It is useful, but only partly.

Step one: take the first six digits. These are the internationally shared part and can be relied on, subject to the supplier having classified correctly in the first place.

Step two: determine digits seven onward against Taiwan's schedule. This step is the one most often skipped.

Truncating an eight-digit code to Taiwan's length, or padding with zeros to reach eleven, produces a code that exists but describes something else. The subdivisions below the six-digit level are set independently by each country — there is no correspondence between the seventh digit of an EU code and the seventh digit of a Taiwanese one.

The consequences of landing on the wrong subdivision are covered in What tariff misclassification costs.

Why the national digits exist

The subdivisions below digit six serve two purposes that differ from the international ones.

Tariff differentiation. Two products sharing an international subheading may warrant different rates locally, and the seventh and eighth digits are where that distinction is made.

Statistical tracking. Digits nine and ten allow trade to be measured at a finer granularity than the international code permits, without affecting the rate.

The practical consequence is that two lines sharing all six international digits can carry different Taiwanese rates, and can also differ in whether an import permit or inspection is required. Getting to digit six is not the end of the classification exercise.

Reading a code in practice

Given 3304.99.90.90-6:

• 33 — chapter: essential oils, perfumery, cosmetic preparations
• 3304 — heading: beauty and make-up preparations
• 330499 — subheading: other, internationally defined
• 9090 — Taiwan's subdivision and statistical suffix
• 6 — check digit

Anyone in any country will recognise 330499. Nobody outside Taiwan will recognise the rest.

Formatting varies by context — the same code appears as 3304.99.90.90-6, 33049990906 or 3304999090 depending on whether the check digit is included and whether separators are used. These are the same code, and a mismatch in punctuation between a supplier's document and a declaration is a transcription question rather than a classification one.

Where the six-digit level is not enough

Two situations where stopping at digit six leads to a wrong answer.

Rate differences within a subheading. Where Taiwan has subdivided a subheading precisely because the products warrant different treatment, the six-digit level averages over exactly the distinction that matters.

Import requirements attached to specific lines. Permit, inspection and quarantine obligations attach to Taiwanese lines, not to the international subheading. Two lines under one subheading can differ on whether goods can enter without prior approval — see Importing phones and laptops for how that plays out.

The schedule is revised, and the revisions matter

The Harmonized System is amended periodically by the World Customs Organization, and Taiwan's national subdivisions change more often than that.

Two practical consequences for anyone importing the same goods repeatedly.

A code that was correct can stop being correct. Where a subheading is split or merged in a revision, goods move to a new line — sometimes with a different rate. The old code does not become invalid so much as it stops describing the goods, and a declaration continuing to use it is wrong even though nothing about the product changed.

Supplier codes age faster than your own. A code supplied once and stored in a purchasing system carries no indication of when it was determined. A code that has been reused for several years without review is worth checking against the current schedule, particularly for product lines where the rate difference between adjacent subdivisions is material.

Neither situation announces itself. Post-clearance audit is where they surface — see What tariff misclassification costs for how the exposure accumulates in the meantime.

Further reading

For the classification process and what happens when it is wrong, see The complete HS Code guide and What tariff misclassification costs. For how the rate is applied once the code is settled, see the Taiwan import tax guide. For rate distributions by category, see the Taiwan import tariff tables.

Primary source: Customs Act (關稅法) and the Customs Administration tariff schedule.

Frequently asked questions

How many digits does Taiwan's tariff code have?

Eleven. The first six are the international Harmonized System code, digits seven and eight are Taiwan's subheading, nine and ten are the statistical suffix, and the eleventh is a check digit. The full code is commonly called the CCC Code.

Which digits are the same in every country?

The first six. Chapter (digits 1–2), heading (3–4) and subheading (5–6) are set by the World Customs Organization and are identical worldwide. Everything beyond digit six is national and differs between countries.

Can I use my supplier's tariff code directly?

Only the first six digits of it. Take those, then determine the Taiwan subdivisions separately against Taiwan's schedule. Truncating an eight-digit foreign code to fit, or padding it with zeros, lands on a subdivision that may carry a different rate and different import requirements.

Why does the shared six-digit prefix matter?

It makes cross-border comparison possible without translation. A product classified in Taiwan can be matched to the corresponding lines in another country's schedule by its first six digits, which is more reliable than translating a product name.

What is the eleventh digit for?

It is a check digit, used to validate that the preceding ten were transcribed correctly. It carries no classification meaning and is calculated from the other digits rather than chosen.