1.1. National Land Surveying and Mapping Centre
URL | |
Use to verify | •Address existence /accuracy •Pin accuracy •Land use |
Instructions | •Search for a location using an address/set of co-ordinates •Always make sure to use the website in Chinese •Buildings/land are labelled with their corresponding street #. However, this will only show up if you zoom in •Examples of useful layers: o 土地圖層 >> 都市計畫使用分區圖 o 環境圖層 >> 工業區 |
1.2. Department of Household Registration, M.O.I.
URL | |
Use to verify | Address existence/accuracy |
Instructions | •Click 以部分街路門牌查詢 •The minimum requirement is to fill in region + locality + street. However, they will return results even when the match is partial, and you may end up with a very long list, so it is best to provide as much information as possible |
Imagine you are rating the result on the left. The query is for the address tied to Taipei 101. For the purpose of this exercise, let’s pretend that we are unsure of its existence and need to do further research to determine its validity.
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Below is an example of what you would get after entering台北市 + 信義區 + 信義路五段 + 7號 in M.O.I.. The search returned 827 results but none of the results in the first page match our desired address.
To save the hassle of sifting through pages of results, we decide to use NLSC instead. However, even though our address is tied to such a prominent POI, it was not returned by NLSC. This is a good example o why you should always consult multiple sources when in doubt.
We decide to use M.O.I. again but we should see if we can narrow down the pool. We see that it is possible to enter the sub-locality and/or neighbourhood. Luckily for us, this information is returned by NLSC.
We look for the result that is closest to our intended address. Remember that Taiwan uses an odd/even numbering system for left/right side of the street. Since our address is 信義路五段7號, we should look for the next closest address with an odd number. This would be 臺北市信義區西村里008鄰信義路五段 5號.
Keying 西村里into the query string already returns a much shorter list than before and the result we want is in the first page. We can confidently say that 信義路五段7號 is an address that does exist.
2.1. eTax Portal
URL | |
Use to verify | •Current state of the business closed/open） •Registered business name •Registered business address •Line of business •Date of establishment |
Instructions | There are two methods to search with eTax: Using VAT number 統一編號） •Choose 一）.依營業人統一編號查詢 •If possible, always try to search using the VAT number instead of the address. This is because VAT numbers are unique to a business Using addresses •Click 三）.依營業人營業 稅籍）登記地址查詢 •Addresses on the other hand are more difficult to search with, because 1） there may be many different businesses registered at the same address, and 2） the system may only generate relevant results when your string is in the exact format, style, and order as the address in their database. •Numbers may be in Arabic numerals/Chinese characters. This is not applicable however to street names that begin with numbers eg. 一江街） •Unit numbers 之） may be indicated by ―/-/之 e.g. 信義路2―1號） •Sometimes, the address will include multiple street numbers. For a business registered at 中和街228﹒230號, you are required to key in a string that matches any part of 中和街228﹒230號 exactly |
Below are examples of errors one might encounter when searching for a result registered at 中和街228﹒ 230號:
Address in database | Address entered | Error |
中和街228﹒230號 | 中和街228號 | Failed to include﹒230 in the string |
中和街 228 | There is not supposed to be a space between中和街 and 228 |
2.2. OPENGOVTW
URL | |
Use to verify | •Current state of the business closed/open) •Date of establishment •Registered business name •Registered business address •Line of business •Date of establishment •+ Date last modified this is extra information not provided by eTax) |
Instructions | •There are several methods to search with OPENGOVTW. You can choose to search with registered business name, registered business name, VAT number, and name of business owner •If possible, always try to search using the VAT number of a business. This is because 1) the registered business name can be very different from their commercial name, and 2) there may be several businesses located at the same address |
Below is an example of the information that will be returned by OPENGOVTW
Category | Example | Use to verify | Notes/Caveats |
商業名稱 (business name) | 米思咖哩精緻餐坊 | Name Accuracy | Note that the business’ registered name can be very different or even completely unrecognisable from their commercial name so it should only be used as reference. |
地址 (address) | 新竹市東區軍功里 建中路103號一樓 | Address Accuracy | Unit/floor number is only essential when it listed in official sources. However, it is not essential if it is in the registered address. |
統一編號 (VAT number) | 26162021 | n/a | n/a |
現況 (current state) | 歇業 closed) | Business/POI is Closed or Does not Exist | |
核准設立日期 (date of establishment) | 2010-10-6 | ||
最近異動日期 (date last modified) | 2014-8-19 | ||
營業項目 (line of business) | 餐館業 restaurants) | Name Accuracy: Classification |
2.3. Determining the Validity of a Business/POI Result
Imagine we are rating the result to the left.
We first want to make sure that the business is still in operation before we move on to verifying name/address/pin accuracy.
*an active website/social media page is one that regularly posts updates. This is rather subjective so you should move on to the next step if you are not convinced by the information/recency
**as above, move on if you are not convinced
***if you are able to confirm a business’ date of establishment in earlier steps, this information may help you determine what you should expect to see in street imagery
These are the steps gone through to confidently rate the validity of this business:
Action | Perform web search | Check street imagery | Perform web search | Search on eTax | |||
Search term | 米思咖哩 (Ms Curry) | 米斯咖哩 歇業 (Ms Curry closed) | 新竹市東區建中路103號 (Hsinchu City East Dist. Jianzhong Rd. No. 103) | 米斯咖哩 統編 (Ms Curry VAT #) OR 新竹市東區建中路 103號 統編 (Hsin- chu City East Dist. Jianzhong Rd. No. 103 VAT #) | 新竹市東區建中路 103號 (Hsinchu City East Dist. Jianzhong Rd. No. 103) | ||
Results | No official web- site/social media pages found. We move on to check if there are recent blog posts by customers | Found a blog post from 2010. However we should look-J for more sources as this is very outdated | Found a blog post from 2010 titled “ 新竹_米斯咖哩 (已歇業)” Hsin- ►chu_Ms Curry (closed)). However this is only one source and the closure was not even discussed in the post | Not seen in most recent street imagery (May 2017). However, there are no signboards where the business used to be, so we cannot be certain if ” it was re- placed/simply under renovation. Check older street imagery to make sure that it was really there at one point | ►Seen in older street imagery (Jan 2013) | No valid results. We move on to check on eTax | 米思咖哩精緻餐坊 (Ms Curry Eatery) is returned as 非營業 中 (not in operation) |
Using a combination of street imagery + eTax, we are able to confidently mark this result as Business/POI is closed or does not exist. This result also deserves a rating of Navigational if it were still open (4.2. Business/POI is Closed or Does Not Exist).