How do I choose business items? Do they affect tax?

Incorporation goes through two agencies:

• City government / Ministry of Economic Affairs: looks at "business items" to understand the nature of the business and industry; no upper limit.
• Tax bureau: looks at "industry codes". Each business item maps to an industry code, and tax is based on the industry code; up to 4 can be arranged, subject to the tax officer's final decision.

Selection tips

• Number: there is no limit, but 10–30 is advisable. Too many or too broad a range can hurt when banks, investors or partners assess your professionalism.
• Type: focus on your current main business (it must be factual), and add businesses you may pursue later so you won't need an amendment when expanding.
• Order: put items that are your "main business" and have a "lower expanded-review net profit rate" first. Under expanded-review filing, the category of the main item directly affects the tax on the year's business income.
• Extra: add "ZZ99999 All business items that are not prohibited or restricted by law, except those that are subject to special approval", so non-regulated businesses can be operated and invoiced even if not listed.

Two notes

1. Business item codes ending in "1" are regulated and require prior approval from the competent authority before incorporation can proceed; codes ending in "0" are mostly non-regulated, with a few exceptions (such as E801060 interior decoration and J101090 waste disposal) that still require a permit after incorporation. Regulatory approval usually takes a long time, so avoid listing businesses you do not intend to pursue.
2. The above mainly applies to "companies" and "businesses that issue invoices"; it does not fully apply to small-scale businesses exempt from uniform invoices.