With government expenditures rising and tax revenues sliding, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday the Cabinet is moving to abolish income-tax exemptions for public school teachers and military personnel.
Lawmakers from across party lines expressed approval for the planned tax reform but recommended an incremental approach to carry it out.
"All citizens are equal before law," the premier said in response to a question from DPP lawmaker Chen Mao-nan (
Yu hesitated to set a timetable but added he hoped the suggested reform can be reflected in the government's fiscal plan for next year.
To achieve that, the legislature must amend related tax codes before the end of this year. The premier said that the ministries of education and defense are studying the issue.
"I hope related agencies can soon arrive at a conclusion and put it in the budget plan for next year," Yu said.
The proposed tax reform has been talked about for more than a decade but has run aground due to strong protest from the demographic group and its lobbyists. The tax exemptions have been counted as part of their wages when they take their jobs.
With the economy in the doldrums, leaders from the four legislative caucuses all gave their conditional support for the tax-reform plan.
KMT legislative whip Lin Yi-shih (
"It is better for the government to examine whether the need for such exemptions still exists before taking any action," Lin said.
"Otherwise, the country may suffer if the tax reform deals a heavy blow to the morale of public school teachers and soldiers," Lin added.
To avoid that, he proposed removing the tax exemptions in phases to cushion its impact on the groups.
PFP legislative leader Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) agreed in part. She said it is fair to ask all citizens to pay income taxes but noted that military personnel usually work long hours and cannot take holidays off.
"The government is advised to review their salaries and fringe benefits before making them pay income taxes," Chin said.
Echoing a similar theme, TSU lawmaker Chen Cheng-lung (
DPP lawmaker Wang Tuoh (
"Nowadays soldiers and public school teachers make more money than private-sector workers do. The former enjoy summer and winter vacations that are not available to private-sector employees," Wang said.
The premier said he would not rule out a pay hike for public school teachers and soldiers, if it is deemed necessary.
Chen, the DPP lawmaker, went a step further and urged Yu to slash savings interest rates for retired public servants.
Chen noted that the group enjoys a preferential rate of 18 percent, whereas the average rate for the general public hovers around 2 percent.
The premier said that government employees who retire after July 1995 no longer enjoy these high interest rates.
But he refused to adjust already agreed-on interest rates, saying that public servants lived on low incomes before 1995 .
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS