An extra NT$11 billion (US$34.8 million) — NT$4.5 billion less than the original estimate — would be collected in tax revenue if proposed amendments to cancel tax exemptions for public school teachers and military personnel clears the legislature this year, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The ministry’s remarks came after the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday completed a preliminary review of the long-standing bill to reinstate income taxes for teachers at the junior high school level and below as well as military personnel.
As the ceiling for income tax deductions has been raised and the number of public school teachers has decreased over the years, the ministry said that the additional tax revenue to be collected would be lower than had been expected.
A preliminary estimate showed that NT$7.2 billion would be collected from public school teachers, a decline of NT$2.6 billion from the original forecast of NT$9.8 billion, and NT$3.8 billion from military personnel, a drop of NT$1.9 billion compared with the earlier forecast of NT$5.73 billion, data provided by the committee showed.
However, Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) said that none of the extra tax revenue would end up in the treasury’s coffers, as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of National Defense would direct the funds toward subsidies for teachers and military personnel.
Lee said the taxes collected from public school teachers would be used to improve the nation’s educational system, including subsidizing the hiring of contract-based administrative and counseling staff, raising salaries of teachers and reducing teaching hours.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), however, suggested the government budget extra money to make up the discrepancy and address the importance of establishing a better education environment.
“The government is willing to pay hundreds of millions of NT dollars on preferential corporate income tax breaks ... is it not willing to pay an extra NT$2 billion [to improve education]?” she asked.
Reporting on complementary measures on canceling tax exemptions for military personnel, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement that the taxes collected from soldiers on active service would be used to increase their overtime pay.
The proposed bill is expected to pass its third reading in the legislature this year and affect a total of 350,000 individuals, who would be required to pay income tax from May, 2012, if the amendments take effect next year.
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