In response to the news, the Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it would propose lower tariffs in order not to harm local companies’ competitiveness on the global stage.
“It is the way to go to impose the energy tax [to be in line with international trends], but the rates should be reasonable,” Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) told legislators during a question-and-answer session at the legislature yesterday.
With the tariffs proposed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, total tax revenues collected by the 10th year were estimated at NT$151.3 billion — much lower than the NT$435.1 billion that would be collected using the Ministry of Finance’s proposed rates.
Shih said it was imperative that the taxes did not hurt local companies’ international competitiveness nor burden the public.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG AND JASON TAN
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