Nearly two dozen new government measures are to take effect nationwide this year, with several starting today, from a rise in the minimum wage to new procedures for redeeming receipt lottery winnings.
Starting today, the minimum monthly wage is to increase from NT$22,000 to NT$23,100 (US$716 to US$752), and the minimum hourly wage is to rise from NT$140 to NT$150.
Publicly listed companies are obligated to disclose the salaries of their non-management employees. Those that pay their non-management employees less than NT$40,000 per month must explain why they do so.
The National Pension Program’s premium rate is to rise from 8.5 percent to 9 percent, whereas that for the labor insurance program is to increase from 10.5 percent to 11 percent.
People who work between 10pm and 6am for more than six months straight, or who have accumulated 7,000 hours of work, must undergo mandatory health examinations paid for by employers.
Also starting today, men skilled in athletics, electronic sports or foreign diplomacy can apply for alternative military service.
Aborigines can also apply to fulfill their alternative military service in their tribal villages beginning in April.
People can collect prize money won in the Unified Invoice Lottery at convenience stories if the amount is less than NT$1,000.
Post offices, on the other hand, will stop redeeming prize money won in the lotteries.
Soy sauce makers are obligated to disclose the manufacturing process on packaging labels.
People disposing of two-stroke motorcycles and purchasing electric scooters can receive up to NT$5,500 in government subsidies.
Those who buy motorcycles equipped with an anti-lock braking system would receive a subsidy of NT$4,000, whereas those purchasing motorcycles with a combined braking system would receive NT$1,000.
Multiple large motor bikes can now park into one car parking space.
Several changes in healthcare policies are to take effect today as well. The National Health Insurance Administration has listed 6,500 drugs that people have to pay for out of their own pockets if there are duplicate prescriptions.
The National Health Insurance would also start covering drugs for people with hepatitis C.
The cap set for hospital expenses copaid by patients would be raised from NT$38,000 to NT$39,000.
The Patient Right to Autonomy Act (病人自主權利法) is to take effect on Saturday, making Taiwan the first nation in Asia to implement such a law.
In April, the processing fee for fund transfers via ATMs is to be reduced from NT$15 to NT$10 for amounts from NT$501 to NT$1,000.
There will be no processing fee for fund transfers of not more than NT$500.
Three groups of people will not have to pay income taxes in May: those earning less than NT$30,000 per month or whose annual salaries are below NT$408,000; couples with combined salaries of less NT$816,000 per year; and families with two children under five years old and whose annual household income is below NT$1.23 million.
In August, families with children between ages two and four can receive a subsidy of NT$2,500 per month.
In July, government agencies, public and private schools, department stores, shopping centers, fast-food chains may not give dine-in customers single-use plastic straws.
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday said that “it’s up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be “very unhappy” with a change in the “status quo.” “He [Xi] considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing, but I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said. Trump made the comments in the context
SELF-DEFENSE: Tokyo has accelerated its spending goal and its defense minister said the nation needs to discuss whether it should develop nuclear-powered submarines China is ramping up objections to what it sees as Japan’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, despite Tokyo’s longstanding renunciation of such arms, deepening another fissure in the two neighbors’ increasingly tense ties. In what appears to be a concerted effort, China’s foreign and defense ministries issued statements on Thursday condemning alleged remilitarism efforts by Tokyo. The remarks came as two of the country’s top think tanks jointly issued a 29-page report framing actions by “right-wing forces” in Japan as posing a “serious threat” to world peace. While that report did not define “right-wing forces,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
RSS