Taipei City Government

The Department of Finance (DoF) of Taipei City Government (TCG) announced that they found 65 cases in violation of The Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act with fines of NT$1,301,200 from January to April, 2018. In order to improve tobacco and alcohol management and ensure the health and safety of consumers, the DoF will continue to actively conduct related inspections.

As the newly amended Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Act have taken effect since June 12, 2017, increasing tobacco tax may raise the incentive for smuggling tobacco products. Therefore, the DoF not only implement "Executive Plan for the Investigation of Smuggling Cigarettes", which is legislated by the Ministry of Finance, but also expand the inspection of selling tobacco and alcohol stores, such as betel stall-keepers, traditional markets, nightclubs, KTV, club and PUB. Until April 30, 2018, there are 472 tobacco and alcohol manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, and retailers which have been inspected.

The DoF emphasized that most of violations of the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act were been reported selling tobacco and alcohol through Internet, e-commerce platforms, and APP in recent years. In order to safeguard the public rights and interests, the DoF reminded people not to exchange stuff with tobacco and alcohol or sell those on the Internet. Besides, the DoF called on people not to buy unknown alcohol and tobacco to protect their own health. If citizens discover illegal cigarettes and alcohol, they can call 1999 # 6294 Citizens Service Hotline to report impeachments. If the illicit cigarettes or alcohols are discovered, the bonus for reporter is counted as the 20% of the fine and the worth of the confiscated goods. The maximum of the bonus for each case is NT$4.8 million. All citizens are welcome to fight against the illegality. The DoF will continue to actively investigate for safeguarding the tobacco and alcohol markets and consumers' safety.