If you haven't filed your taxes for last year yet, you're not alone. As of yesterday, more than half of those required to file taxes hadn't. But there is still time.
Tax offices will remain open until 7pm on Monday -- the last day people can file their taxes -- while the online tax-filing system will be open until midnight.
Officials said yesterday that a record 55 percent, or 2.73 million of the nation's 5 million single and joint filing taxpayers, had failed to complete the dreaded annual chore, even though they have only two working days left to do so.
PHOTO: LIAO CHENG-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen Wen-tzong (
Chen urged all taxpayers to file before the deadline or take advantage of the 24-hour online tax-filing system and pay with credit cards if they owe taxes.
The tax-filing rate in Taipei is similar to the nationwide average. According to Chen, 327,000 taxpayers -- or 49 percent -- of the capital city's 800,000 taxpayers have filed taxes.
And for Taipei's nearly 20,000 expatriate taxpayers -- who cannot use the online tax-filing system program -- Chen yesterday reminded them to file as soon as possible lest they waste time waiting in long lines at the tax offices.
With members of the public preferring to stay home to reduce the risk of catching SARS, Chen said that the number of people filing taxes online had increased by nearly 150 percent from last year.
So far, 640,000 taxpayers had logged on to the Internet to file their income tax reports compared to 280,000 during the same period last year, Chen said, adding that he expected to see more last-minute online filings.
The finance ministry said on Monday that health workers tending to SARS patients would be given another month to file their taxes.
According to the Ministry of Finance, Taiwan may face a shortfall of NT$106.6 billion in tax revenues this year, including a shortage of NT$5.2 billion in business taxes and NT$6.2 billion in securities-exchange transaction tax following the SARS epidemic.
To offset the tax losses, Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source