A disagreement between the Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance may have contributed to the delay in proposing a measure to permanently lower land-value incremental tax rates, which may prevent it receiving the legisla-ture's approval before the end of the year.
Finance Minister Lin Chuan (
"I've tried to rush the Cabinet to submit the amended draft for a legislative review so as to complete its promulgation before year's end. But I haven't received any response yet," Lin told the legislature's Finance Committee.
Lin said that he hoped the Cabinet would deliver the amen-ded version of the Land Tax Law (土地稅法) to the Legislative Yuan for review "as early as next Wednesday."
Since President Chen Shui-bian (
If the Cabinet fails to deliver the amended draft to the legislature for review before next week, it is likely that the land tax may continue at the original rates, set at 60 percent, 40 percent and 20 percent in February after the current reduction measure expires in mid January next year, several pan-blue lawmakers said yesterday.
The lawmakers pointed out that the legislature made a resolution last December to extend the reduction in the tax to January next year, and at the same time demanded the Ministry of Finance to review and revise the Land Tax Law within one year.
Among these are Chinese Nationalist Party lawmakers Lee Chuan-chiao (
The Cabinet had been negligent in not reviewing the law, the lawmakers said, and despite the ministry sending an amended version for the Cabinet's approval in September, the Cabinet had not done anything about it and assumed that the lawmakers would agree to extend the reduction measure.
"If the Executive Yuan sends in the amended version now, we still have time to review it in this session. Otherwise we may demand the government gather the full tax again after the reduction period expires on Jan. 17 next year," Yin said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last