The government may consider allocating a certain proportion of revenue generated by the planned capital gains tax (CGT) on property transactions to help fund the construction of social housing, Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) told lawmakers yesterday.
Chang made the remarks in response to one of the appeals made by the recently launched Housing Movement (巢運), which says that the establishment of a social housing fund could help take care of living demands from the younger generation as well as members of minorities or socially disadvantaged groups.
“Twenty percent is a reasonable proportion to be allocated to help set up an exclusive fund for social housing,” Chang said during a question-and-answer session in a meeting of the Finance Committee, in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌).
The ministry had previously insisted revenue from the planned property tax should be collected and spent in a “unified” way, but changed its mind after a suggestion by the Ministry of the Interior.
Chang said the proposal to tax capital gains on property transactions may not be finalized until the finance ministry sends the draft to the Cabinet at the end of this year. He said the appeals made by civil groups were generally in line with the finance ministry’s stance.
However, he said he did not think the imposition of a capital gains tax on property transactions would drag down the housing market, adding that the tax is common in major economies around the world and their property markets remain stable.
In related news, exports and imports in the first three weeks of last month both showed nearly double-digit growth from the same period last year, Chang said, citing the most recent data collected by the finance ministry.
“The year-on-year growth trend in exports and imports may continue this month,” Chang said, adding that outbound shipments of electronic and mechanical products may top the list this month.
As for the recent sluggish performance of the local stock market, Chang attributed the market pullback to global uncertainties, including the US’ potential quantitative easing exit and the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in response to Beijing’s refusal to grant the territory full universal suffrage.
Chang said these factors should have only short-term impacts on Taiwan’s stock market, because the nation’s economic fundamentals would lend a solid support in the future.
Still, he reiterated that the imposition of a capital gains tax on securities transactions would maintain its pace, with the rule that individual investors who sell NT$1 billion (US$32.8 million) in shares within the calendar year would be subject to either a 15 percent tax on their capital gains or a 0.1 percent tax rate on their stock trades that exceed NT$1 billion, to be effected next year.
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