Send money from Japan to Taiwan

Rakuten Bank states that a transfer in Taiwan dollars can only be sent to Taiwan, that the recipient's phone number is needed, and that you should check before sending whether the recipient's account can receive Taiwan dollars. To an account at Chunghwa Post (中華郵政, the post office), only US dollars, euros, Hong Kong dollars and Chinese yuan can be sent. Taiwan dollars cannot be sent.

Under PayPal's user agreement for Taiwan, for a user in Taiwan to withdraw a PayPal balance to a bank account in Taiwan, the user has to open an account at a bank in Taiwan that PayPal partners with and use its withdrawal service, and if the withdrawal fails the money is returned in US dollars. Taiwan is not in the lists published by DCOM and Smiles.

Rakuten Bank says that for Taiwan dollar transfers the recipient may need to submit documents to the receiving bank depending on the details and the amount, and that it is expected to take about 5–7 days from when the money reaches the receiving bank until it is credited.

Look at the procedure at the receiving bank too. In the case of Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), money that arrives from overseas goes into the account after the recipient completes the procedure to receive it (解匯). When it is put into a foreign currency account at Cathay United Bank in the original currency, the bank says the procedure can be done online within 2 business days from the date the bank shows as available for receipt, and that the recipient declares the nature of the remittance at that time. In cases such as these, the procedure is done at a branch: the nature of the remittance does not fit the accepted types, the limit is exceeded, the time limit has passed, or the sender's name, account or address is missing or wrong in the payment message. The recipient's account number and name have to match the passbook. Procedures differ by bank, so ask the recipient to check the receiving bank's guidance.

Taiwan's Regulations Governing the Declaration of Foreign Exchange Receipts and Disbursements or Transactions (外匯收支或交易申報辦法, issued by the central bank) require that when a receipt, payment or transaction of foreign currency equivalent to NT$500,000 or more is made within Taiwan, the owner of the money or the person who uses it makes a declaration (Article 2). When received foreign currency is changed into Taiwan dollars (結匯), a declaration form is submitted through the bank.

• An individual can, with a declaration, exchange to or from Taiwan dollars up to a yearly cumulative total equivalent to USD 10 million (Article 4, paragraph 1, subparagraph 3; the central bank raised this from USD 5 million by an order of October 31, 2024, applied from November 1 of the same year).
• When an individual exchanges the equivalent of USD 500,000 or more at one time, supporting documents checked by the bank are needed (Article 5, subparagraph 2).
• An "individual" here is a person aged 18 or over who holds a Taiwan ID card, or a resident certificate (居留證) valid for 1 year or more, or similar (Article 3). When a person under 18 exchanges the equivalent of NT$500,000 or more at one time, permission from the central bank is needed (Article 6).

The declaration in Article 2 covers receipts and payments of foreign currency in Taiwan in general, and Articles 4–6 are the rules for changing received foreign currency into Taiwan dollars. All of them are procedures for the person receiving in Taiwan, not procedures for the person sending from Japan. If the amount you send to family is close to these thresholds, asking the recipient to check first with the receiving bank which documents are needed makes the receiving procedure easier.