The Ministry of Finance yesterday adjusted upward a basic allowance that taxpayers can deduct from their income when filing taxes, a measure it said would benefit about 1.77 million households.
The basic allowance per person for fiscal year 2018 for income taxes to be filed next year has been raised from a provisional NT$166,000 (US$5,383) to NT$171,000, the ministry said.
Under the new individual income tax filing system to take effect in May for income earned this year, taxpayers would have two options when they claim deductions.
One option is to use the old system and claim a personal exemption of NT$88,000 per taxpayer and dependent, a standard deduction of NT$120,000 per taxpayer and special deduction for salary or wages of up to NT$200,000.
The other option would be to claim the basic allowance of NT$171,000 for each taxpayer and dependent instead of the personal exemption, standard deduction and special salary deduction.
The main beneficiaries of the new system would be households with only one source of income and many dependents, the ministry said.
It estimated that 1.77 million households would benefit from the change, costing the government NT$5.5 billion in tax revenue.
The change was adopted based on the Taxpayer Rights Protection Act (納稅者權利保護法), which went into effect on Dec. 28, 2016.
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