Foreign travelers yesterday seemed unimpressed by the government's proposal to refund the 5 percent value-added tax (VAT) in a bid to boost the nation's ailing tourism sector.
"It wouldn't make a difference to me," said Joyce VanderLogt, an American tourist who is on her second trip to Taiwan, "I'm on vacation and don't think about prices that much."
Olivia Kelm, a first-time tourist from Germany also said that she doesn't care much about the small tax refund.
"But if shopping is tax-free, it'll probably make people more willing to come," she said, adding that she has no plans to come back and visit the country anytime soon.
The Cabinet announced plans on Wednesday to boost tourism by 10 percent this year, hoping to attract 3 million foreign visitors.
At a press conference after the meeting, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said that he has instructed related government agencies to propose revisions to the statute for tourism development (
Yu also announced that South Koreans can visit Taiwan visa free, starting tomorrow.
If the legislature passes the proposal, Vice Minister of Finance Sam Wang (
The refunds, however, will only apply to shopping, while taxes paid on meals, accommodations and entertainment won't be refunded, Wang said.
But Su Cheng-tien (
Su said that tourists travelling to Singapore, for example, take full advantage of the tax break even though the VAT rate is only 4 percent.
According to the bureau, 2.72 million tourists visited Taiwan last year, compared to 2.61 million visitors in 2001.
The number of tourists from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia were on the rise last year, Su said.
RSS