Before You Use a Subsidy to Adopt AI, Check Whose Name the Account and Data Are In: Reading Taiwan's Two MOEA Subsidy Tracks Clause by Clause

Table of Contents

1. Check the dates and definitions behind the news numbers
2. Two doors: work out which one is yours
3. Taking apart "up to NT$420,000 per company"
4. Protections already written into the rules
5. A principle you can take with you: a label only answers the question it tested
6. Ten questions to ask before you sign
7. The AI Basic Act: not amended, sector rules due by January 2028
8. Sources

The short answer: a 15 September 2026 press release from Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) says that the Industrial Competitiveness Advisory Teams (產業競爭力輔導團) have "helped more than 13,000 companies adopt AI applications". If you plan to adopt AI with a subsidy, the clauses the government itself wrote into the subsidy rules matter more than the headline "up to NT$420,000 per company": the account must be registered under your own Unified Business Number, vendors may not file for you, the licensee and the payout account holder must be your company, and the provider must let you download your data in full, free and at any time. On the manufacturing track, the tool must also be on the advisory teams' approved list, and the security bar the teams' FAQ sets for listing is one of six third-party tests. That test does not tell you where your data sits, whose name the account is in, or whether you can take everything with you if you do not renew.

Every number and clause below comes from original documents published by the MOEA, its Industrial Development Administration and Administration of Commerce, the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the Executive Yuan and the national Laws and Regulations Database, checked on 26 September 2026.

#Check the dates and definitions behind the news numbers

Figure	Source and date	Qualification
9,249 companies	MOEA press release, 2026-07-09	Covers October 2025 to the end of June 2026; 93% SMEs, 60% services
More than 13,000 companies	MOEA press release, 2026-09-15	One sentence in a meeting readout, with no cut-off date and no breakdown
14,000 companies	2026-07-09 press conference deck	The 2028 target
NT$32.3 billion	Same deck	Labelled "estimated output driven", not realised
38.5%	Same deck, citing a survey by the Artificial Intelligence Technology Foundation (AIF)	AI adoption in manufacturing only; services is 38.7%

The September sentence reads in full: "more than 2,700 consultants (顧問師) have been trained so far, helping more than 13,000 companies adopt AI applications". The July release used a different word, "advisors" (輔導員), with more than 2,000 by the end of June. The public record does not say whether the two figures are counted the same way, so you cannot subtract one from the other and call the difference new companies since July.

On the same day, the Ministry of Digital Affairs announced that it was opening its Taiwan Sovereign AI Training Corpus to contributions from the private sector. "Training" here means text used to train AI models: the corpus went live at the end of last year, started mainly with government text, and held about 2.2 billion tokens at the end of August. This round is aimed at publishers and e-book platforms, and the licence is free of charge. It is not a training course for businesses and it is not a subsidy. Its three principles, "voluntary participation, explicit authorisation, the right to withdraw", are in our view worth asking of any AI provider.

#Two doors: work out which one is yours

We found two main tracks that are still open and that a small business can apply to. Their eligibility rules and clauses differ.

Manufacturing: the Industrial Development Administration's advisory teams. To apply for the AI tool subsidy you must meet all three conditions: the business items in your company registration are manufacturing; you have been through the advisory teams' AI tool diagnosis; and the tool you buy matches the recommendation in the advisor's diagnostic report and is on the advisory teams' approved list of safe AI tools. Applications close on 30 September 2027 (ROC year 116). In principle each company gets one case; a company that received the 16+4 coaching in 2025 (ROC year 114) cannot apply for the 19+1 coaching of 2026 to 2027 (ROC years 115 to 116).

Commerce and services: the Administration of Commerce's "single-store adoption". Shops whose tax registration lists business items in categories G to S can apply, whether they hold a company, business or limited partnership registration or only a tax registration. You also sign a declaration that you have been affected by changes in the international economic and trade situation, and you cannot be a shop that has closed or suspended business, or a branch office. The subsidy covers plans listed in the Smart Transformation Zone for commerce and service businesses (商業服務業智慧轉型專區), so first check whether the tool you want is listed there. Applications run from 20 April 2026 (ROC year 115) to 20 October 2027 (ROC year 116), or until the budget runs out. The second round of the same programme's "multi-store upgrade" track closed on 31 August 2026.

#Taking apart "up to NT$420,000 per company"

The figure comes from the manufacturing track. The July 2026 press conference deck says: "government coaching budget NT$190,000 + company contribution NT$10,000 + AI application adoption NT$100,000 + AI talent training subsidy NT$120,000 (optional)".

Item	Amount	Where the money goes
Diagnostic fee	NT$190,000	Paid through the sub-sector advisory teams, not cash to the company
Company contribution	NT$10,000	Paid by the company to the advisory team
AI tool subsidy	Up to NT$100,000 (before tax)	The company pays first and is reimbursed after review
Talent training	NT$120,000	Optional

190,000 + 10,000 + 100,000 + 120,000 comes to exactly 420,000. The cash a company can get back is the AI tool reimbursement of up to NT$100,000 before tax. The NT$120,000 for training is optional; when the programme launched in October 2025, the Industrial Development Administration described it as a subsidy "for companies to send staff to free AI courses". Any tool cost above NT$100,000 "is borne by the company and not subsidised". Once a claim is approved, the money is paid out within fifteen working days after the implementing unit sends it to accounting.

Single-store adoption works differently: 50% of the plan's total price, capped at NT$100,000, once per shop. The plan must run for at least six months and you can claim only after three months of use, so the cap is reached at a plan total of NT$200,000. The worked example in the rules: a plan costing NT$60,000 lets the shop claim NT$30,000 after three months of use, and the implementing unit issues the shop a withholding tax statement for NT$30,000 the following year. The claim needs an invoice whose tax-inclusive amount is at least the plan total (with the item description naming the plan) and three months of usage records with at least one entry per month. Single-function services (cloud storage, SMS, video conferencing, marketing only) and outright hardware purchases (POS terminals, tablets, sensors) are not covered.

#Protections already written into the rules

On the question of whose name the account and data are in, the single-store rules are the most specific:

• Account: "register the account with the shop's Unified Business Number", verified with a business certificate IC card or an uploaded copy of the owner's ID card. The shop declares that its owner and contact person "are all staff of this shop, and the application was not filed by a third party".
• No filing on your behalf: listed providers sign a pledge that they will "not intervene in or register the account on the shop's behalf". The listing terms state that if a provider handles account applications for shops during the subsidy period and "persists after repeated warnings once verified", the implementing unit will delist its plan.
• Data: "The shop has data autonomy: the service provider must enable the shop to download, free, at any time and by itself, the complete data and records generated by using this plan." The provider application form gives orders, members and product data as examples, in CSV or Excel format.
• Operation: "The application software of a smart transformation plan must be operable and runnable by the shop independently."
• Service stops midway: if the provider stops service before the end of the term, the shop can submit evidence and "claim the subsidy in proportion to the number of months the plan was used".
• Payout account: normally a company account; a sole proprietorship may attach a copy of the owner's passbook.

The manufacturing track regulates the name on the paperwork. The licence document must state the licence period, and "the scope of licence and the licensee must be the subsidised company"; the payout account holder "must match the company name on the invoice (the buyer)". When we read these application guidelines and the annex templates, we did not find any clause on data download or account registration. You need to settle those two points in your own contract with the vendor.

"Your data stays yours" has another side. Single-store applicants agree that during the programme they will provide "de-identified related data" from their continued use to the Administration of Commerce or the implementing unit for analysis and use. After a manufacturing subsidy is paid, the company "must cooperate with the advisory team's follow-up care and outcome tracking". Both tracks put the legal responsibility for using the tool on the business: the manufacturing rules say "any legal liability arising from improper operation or unlawful conduct is borne by the company"; the single-store declaration says that if the shop infringes the lawful rights of a third party it "shall handle the matter itself and bear all legal liability".

#A principle you can take with you: a label only answers the question it tested

The manufacturing subsidy only covers tools on "the advisory teams' approved list of safe AI tools". The July 2026 press conference deck says the advisory teams have built up 397 AI tools, labels them "compliant with cybersecurity requirements", and lists the channels as the Cloud Marketplace, the Industry Pavilion and government common supply contracts. The deck does not say outright that these 397 tools are the list named in the subsidy guidelines, and we did not find a clause that equates the two. The advisory teams' own FAQ is clear about the security bar for listing a tool in the "AI tool library": "the security certification only requires any one of source code testing, website vulnerability scanning, host vulnerability scanning, app security testing, penetration testing, or third-party open-source component security and licensing." The test must be carried out by a registered cybersecurity service provider or a TAF-accredited laboratory, and ISO 27001 alone cannot replace it.

So according to the FAQ, a tool applying for listing must pass at least one of six third-party tests (the FAQ also says "AI tools already on government procurement common supply contracts can be listed directly", and does not say whether those tools take this test). One out of six is a real bar, but it only answers the question it tests. Where the data is stored, whose name the account is registered in, and whether you can take all your data with you when you stop renewing are outside the scope of that test.

The same applies to the "download" the rules guarantee. The rules require the provider to offer a complete download; they say nothing about whether the exported file has every field or whether another system can use it. What follows is general practice, not a rule requirement: in the first month of your subscription, actually export your data once, open the file, and compare the order, member and product counts column by column with what the screen shows. A backup you have never restored is not a backup, and an export you have never opened is no different.

#Ten questions to ask before you sign

The clause behind each question is in brackets.

1. Which track am I on, and is the tool I want on that track's list? Manufacturers contact the Industrial Development Administration's advisory teams (0800-023-800); the tool must be on the approved list of safe AI tools, and the deadline is 30 September 2027 (ROC year 116). Commerce and service businesses look at the Administration of Commerce's single-store adoption (organiser (02)2343-3300 ext. 7413, implementing unit (02)7702-2252); the plan must be listed in the Smart Transformation Zone, and the deadline is 20 October 2027 (ROC year 116) or when the budget runs out.
2. Is the application account registered with my Unified Business Number and my business certificate or the owner's ID card? Is the contact person one of my staff? (Single-store guidelines §5.2(1); shop declaration item 9)
3. Has the vendor offered to register the account or file the application for me? (Single-store listing terms: providers that persist after repeated warnings are delisted)
4. Do the licence document, the invoice and the payout account all carry my company's name? Does the licence state the licence period? (Manufacturing annexes 3 and 4)
5. Can I download all my data myself, free and at any time? In what format? Then actually download it once. (Single-store guidelines §7.1(5))
6. Can I operate it myself without the vendor beside me? (Single-store guidelines §7.1(4))
7. What de-identified data do I have to provide to the authorities, and until when? What follow-up do I owe after the money is paid? (Shop declaration item 8; manufacturing follow-up clause)
8. If the vendor stops the service midway, how do I get my data back, and how is the subsidy calculated? (Single-store: pro rata by months used)
9. What will renewal cost once the subsidy ends? The subsidy is one-off: once per shop on the single-store track, one case per company in principle on the manufacturing track.
10. How much do I have to pay up front, and how long until I get it back? Manufacturing: pay first, reimbursed after review. Single-store: claim only after three months of use, and a withholding tax statement arrives the following year.

These clauses only cover the tool bought with the subsidy. For whose name your shop's domain, social accounts and Google Business Profile are in, you can check yourself against the digital asset inventory checklist.

#The AI Basic Act: not amended, sector rules due by January 2028

Taiwan's Artificial Intelligence Basic Act passed its third reading in the Legislative Yuan on 23 December 2025 and was promulgated on 14 January 2026; Article 20 says "this Act takes effect from the date of promulgation". It has 20 articles, and the central competent authority is the National Science and Technology Council. The Laws and Regulations Database (compiled up to 18 September 2026) lists only this one enactment record in the Act's history, and no amendment.

Our reading of the full text is that most articles are addressed to government. Article 18 says the authorities "shall complete the enactment, amendment or repeal of regulations within two years after this Act takes effect", which means before 14 January 2028. On 21 May 2026 the Executive Yuan told the competent sector authorities that they "must, before January 2028, issue management rules and industry guidelines on the risks of AI applications in their sectors". The Ministry of Digital Affairs' AI Risk Classification Framework v1.0, published on 7 July 2026, is addressed to the competent authorities and describes itself to industry as a "reference document". Its one sentence on SMEs, "for SMEs with relatively limited resources, a single advisory channel may also be considered to accompany businesses as they build up compliance capability step by step", is also addressed to the authorities.

In other words, the Executive Yuan's deadline for sector rules and industry guidelines on AI applications is January 2028, and they are not out yet. The laws the subsidy rules themselves name for companies to follow are the Personal Data Protection Act and the Copyright Act.

Separately, the draft amendment to the SME Development Act (to be renamed the Act for the Transformation, Upgrading and Development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) that the MOEA published on 10 September 2026 is still a draft. It is in the public notice period and is expected to go to the Legislative Yuan in early October. The draft would lower the threshold for tax credits on smart machinery, AI, digital and net-zero transformation equipment from NT$1 million to NT$250,000, but none of this applies until it becomes law.

#Sources

• MOEA news, 2026-07-09, "經濟部推動跨部會AI輔導團，參與企業已達9,249家" (MOEA promotes cross-ministry AI advisory teams; participating companies reach 9,249): https://www.moea.gov.tw/MNS/populace/news/News.aspx?kind=1&menu_id=40&news_id=123274
• Industrial Competitiveness Advisory Teams results press conference deck, 9 July 2026 (ROC year 115): https://www.moea.gov.tw/MNS/populace/news/wHandNews_File.ashx?file_id=126262
• MOEA news, 2026-09-15, Industrial Development Administration industry meeting release (13,000 companies, 2,700 consultants): https://www.moea.gov.tw/MNS/populace/news/News.aspx?kind=1&menu_id=40&news_id=123982
• Industrial Development Administration, 2025-10-17, advisory teams launch release: https://www.ida.gov.tw/ctlr?PRO=news.NewsView&id=42969
• 產業競爭力AI輔導團行動計畫 AI工具補助申請須知 (AI tool subsidy application guidelines; organiser Industrial Development Administration, implemented by ITRI, July 2026 (ROC year 115)) and annex templates; advisory teams' website FAQ (including Q7, Q8, Q14 and Q15 on tool listing and security testing): https://eii.nat.gov.tw/moeai-plus/
• Administration of Commerce, 提升商業服務業營運效能強化韌性計畫 個案補助申請須知：單店導入 (single-store adoption application guidelines, 41 pages): https://www.aoc.gov.tw/showPublicAttach/518 ; announcements https://www.aoc.gov.tw/showPublic/584 , https://www.aoc.gov.tw/showPublic/689
• MOEA announcement, multi-store upgrade round 2, 2026-08-03: https://www.moea.gov.tw/Mns/populace/news/News.aspx?kind=2&menu_id=41&news_id=123502
• Ministry of Digital Affairs press release, 2026-09-15, Taiwan Sovereign AI Training Corpus private-sector contributions: https://moda.gov.tw/press/press-releases/20640
• Laws and Regulations Database, Artificial Intelligence Basic Act full text and history (compiled up to 2026-09-18): https://law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=H0160093 , https://law.moj.gov.tw/LawClass/LawHistory.aspx?pcode=H0160093 ; Presidential Office Gazette No. 7837: https://www.president.gov.tw/Page/294/50131
• Executive Yuan news, 2026-05-21: https://www.ey.gov.tw/Page/9277F759E41CCD91/999df6da-6539-4941-913f-5125d684c58d
• Ministry of Digital Affairs, AI Risk Classification Framework v1.0, 2026-07-07: https://moda.gov.tw/major-policies/ai/governance/19244
• MOEA news, 2026-09-10, draft amendment to the SME Development Act: https://www.moea.gov.tw/MNS/populace/news/News.aspx?kind=1&menu_id=40&news_id=123935
• Numbers recomputed in this post: 190,000 + 10,000 + 100,000 + 120,000 = 420,000 (press conference deck); 2026-01-14 plus two years = 2028-01-14 (Article 18 of the Act); single-store cap NT$100,000 ÷ 50% = plan total NT$200,000. All three are plain arithmetic on the figures in the official documents listed above, so the formula itself is the method and anyone can check it.

FAQ

How many companies have the MOEA AI advisory teams actually served?

On 9 July 2026 the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced 9,249 companies for the period from October 2025 to the end of June 2026; 93% were small and medium enterprises and 60% were in services. The 15 September release says the teams "helped more than 13,000 companies adopt AI applications", but that is one sentence in a meeting readout, with no cut-off date and no breakdown. The public record does not say whether the two figures are counted the same way.

Can every company really get an NT$420,000 subsidy?

No. NT$420,000 is the total support package on the manufacturing track: an NT$190,000 diagnostic fee paid through the sub-sector advisory teams, NT$10,000 the company pays to the advisory team itself, an AI tool subsidy of up to NT$100,000 (before tax), and NT$120,000 of optional talent training. The cash a company can get back is the AI tool reimbursement of up to NT$100,000, and it pays first and is reimbursed only after review.

How is the single-store adoption subsidy for commerce and services calculated?

It covers 50% of the total price of a plan listed in the Smart Transformation Zone for commerce and service businesses, capped at NT$100,000, once per shop. The plan must run for at least six months, you can claim only after three months of use, and the implementing unit issues a withholding tax statement the following year. Applications close on 20 October 2027 (ROC year 116) or when the budget runs out.

If I adopt an AI tool with a subsidy, will the account and data be in my name?

The single-store rules are the most specific: the account must be registered under the shop's Unified Business Number and verified with a business certificate or the owner's ID card, vendors may not register it for you, and the provider must let the shop download its data in full, free and at any time. The shop also agrees to share de-identified data with the Administration of Commerce or the implementing unit during the programme. The manufacturing track requires the licensee and the payout account holder to be the subsidised company; data download and account registration are things you need to settle in your own contract with the vendor.

Has the AI Basic Act been amended?

The Laws and Regulations Database, compiled up to 18 September 2026, shows only the enactment record of 14 January 2026 and no amendment. The Executive Yuan has told the competent sector authorities to issue sector rules and industry guidelines for AI applications before January 2028, and these are not out yet. The laws the subsidy rules themselves name for companies to follow are the Personal Data Protection Act and the Copyright Act.