Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) yesterday voiced his support for a proposal to halve the supplementary National Health Insurance (NHI) premium on stock and cash dividends to 1 percent.
The supplementary premiums were introduced during the implementation of the second-generation NHI program in 2013, boosting the NHI reserve fund to NT$208.5 billion (US$6.34 billion) in August from NT$74.6 billion at the end of 2013.
The increase in the reserve fund has exceeded the measure’s original intent of providing enough capital to sustain NHI expenses for three months, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed.
“The commission found that half of the time, most stocks do no recover from a tumble after paying out dividends, which means that investors are not paying for the supplementary premium with taxes on profits, but out of their own pockets,” Tseng told reporters at the sidelines of a question-and-answer session during a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee.
Tseng said that he supports the Taiwan Securities Association’s (券商公會) recommendation the supplementary premium be cut to 1 percent, as local brokerage houses have seen losses climb in the second half so far amid turmoil in global stock markets and a listless turnover of the local bourse.
The TAIEX rose 1.2 percent, or 101.13 points to 8,495.23 points yesterday, climbing back above its 13-week moving average on turnover of NT$93.67 billion.
Tseng said that the average daily turnover in the first nine months of this year was NT$117.7 billion — less than the ideal range of between NT$120 billion and NT$130 billion.
However, barring extraordinary fluctuations in global markets, the commission is reluctant to initiate further stimulus policies, he said.
“The capital gains tax issue remains a major cause of uncertainty,” Tseng said.
In related news, Tseng said that the commission is to launch a joint investigation with the Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corp (TDCC, 台灣集中保管結算所) to ascertain whether unauthorized proxy vote buying took place during Advanced Semiconductor Enginerring Inc’s (ASE, 日月光) bid to acquire a 25 percent stake in rival Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品).
Tseng said unauthorized proxy vote buying would not be condoned, and those with questionable voting rights would be excluded from SPIL’s extraordinary shareholders meeting scheduled to take place on Thursday next week.
SPIL is to seek approval from shareholders at the meeting for a share swap deal with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) aimed at countering ASE’s growing influence over SPIL.
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