Tobacco — Taiwan
What travelers need to know about tobacco in Taiwan. What is legal at home can be a serious crime here — each rule links to its official source.
Tobacco in Taiwan: restricted — there are real limits travelers must follow.
Taiwan's smoking age is 20, not 18: anyone under 20 may not smoke and no one may give or sell them tobacco. Smoking is completely banned indoors in restaurants, bars, hotels, malls, cinemas and workplaces shared by three or more people, and on all public transport, taxis, tour buses and stations, as well as schools and hospitals; the only indoor exception is a separately ventilated smoking room or cigar club. At outdoor stadiums, pools and recreation sites you may smoke only in a marked smoking area. Holding a lit cigarette counts as smoking. Fine: NT$2,000 to NT$10,000.
Smoking where Art. 18 bans it completely, or outside a designated smoking area where Art. 19 applies: fine of NT$2,000 to NT$10,000 (Art. 40). Carrying a lit or activated tobacco product counts as smoking (Art. 3). Using an e-cigarette or a heated-tobacco product that has not passed Taiwan's health-risk review is a separate offence with the same NT$2,000 to NT$10,000 fine (Arts. 15, 40). A person under 20 caught smoking is ordered to attend cessation classes; skipping them without good reason is fined NT$2,000 to NT$10,000, paid by the parent or guardian for a minor (Art. 42).
§ Laws & Regulations Database of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Ministry of Justice - Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act, amended 2023-02-15, arts. 3, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 40, 42 (official English translation)Verified Sep 19, 2026