The short version
An electric scooter currently saves you the road fee, plus the license tax on anything over 150 cc; compulsory insurance is identical. Against the most common 125 cc petrol scooter, which pays no license tax anyway, the yearly difference is the NT$450 road fee. Against a 155 cc model, the petrol scooter also pays NT$800 of license tax and a NT$600 road fee.
License tax: two different tables
Petrol scooters are taxed by engine size (Schedule 3), electric ones by maximum motor power (Schedule 5), and in both tables the first taxable bracket is NT$800. The difference is Article 7 of the License Tax Act: city and county governments may exempt electric scooters until 31 December 2030. The exemption has a fixed end date and is left to local governments, so when buying it is fair to read it as “exempt for now, undecided from 2031”. The brackets are on the license tax page.
Road fee: exempt, but the law has left the door open
Article 4 of the fee regulations exempts electric vehicles, which covers electric scooters. But Article 27(3) of the Highway Act, as amended in 2025, says the rate for vehicles that do not use fuel is to be set separately by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications with the Ministry of Finance. In other words, e-scooters could be charged in future; no rate has been set yet. Petrol brackets and the formula are on the road fee page.
Compulsory insurance: the same
Insurance ignores what powers the scooter; it looks only at the class on the registration certificate (行照) and the term. An electric scooter registered as an ordinary heavy motorcycle pays NT$658 for a year, just like a petrol one; the ordinary light and small light classes pay NT$424.
Emission inspection: follow the ministry
Petrol scooters need a yearly emission check once they are five years old. The check is an exhaust test, and the Ministry of Environment’s page does not spell out a rule for electric scooters, so we do not draw a conclusion; follow the ministry’s announcements.
Purchase subsidies: electric only
Both the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Environment pay subsidies or rewards on electric scooters in the current round, which ends on 31 December 2026, and many cities and counties add more. See e-scooter subsidies.
This page compares only the legal taxes, fees and subsidies. Purchase price, electricity or petrol, battery plans, servicing and optional insurance vary too much by model and use to include.