What the license tax is
The license tax (使用牌照稅) is a local tax on vehicles that use public roads, set by the License Tax Act and collected by the tax bureau of each city or county (地方稅務局). Scooters have their own tables: petrol scooters are taxed by engine displacement (Schedule 3), fully electric scooters by maximum motor power (Schedule 5).
Petrol scooters: free up to 150 cc
Schedule 3 puts engines up to and including 150 cc in a NT$0 bracket. The common 50 cc, 110 cc and 125 cc scooters are all in it, so they pay no license tax. From 151 cc the tax is NT$800 a year, rising with engine size to NT$11,230 above 1,800 cc.
Use the displacement printed on your vehicle registration certificate (行照). Popular 155 cc and 158 cc models are just over the line and fall in the 151–250 cc bracket. Brackets are applied by upper limit, so 150.5 cc already counts as over 150 cc.
Electric scooters: the table, then the exemption
Schedule 5 has six brackets, listed in both imperial horsepower (HP) and metric horsepower (PS). Up to 20.19 HP (21.54 PS) the tax is NT$0; above that it starts at NT$800. Which bracket your scooter falls in depends on its motor rating on the certificate or the maker’s specifications. If you are used to kilowatts, check which unit the certificate uses before comparing.
On top of the table, Article 7 says city and county governments may exempt electric scooters from the tax from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2030. “May” means the law allows local governments to waive it rather than waiving it automatically, which is why we describe it as an exemption granted by local governments under the Act and ask you to check your local tax bureau’s notice. Nothing has been announced yet about 2031 onwards.
When to pay and part-year rules
Scooter license tax is collected once a year, within one month from 1 April. In the year a scooter is first registered, the tax is the yearly amount minus the days that have already passed; while a scooter is officially suspended, tax is charged only for the days it is in use. Vehicles used by people with disabilities may qualify for an exemption under several conditions; the tax bureau can tell you whether yours does.
To add the road fee and insurance, use the yearly cost calculator. The road fee has different brackets and applies even below 150 cc; see the road fee table.
For big bikes of 251 cc and over, every bracket with the road fee and insurance added is on the large heavy motorcycle costs page.