Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said yesterday that he planned to launch a proposal that would allow taxpayers to list tickets to sports events as tax deductible.
“I have used examples in the US and Europe as a reference. Tickets to sports games are deductible in other countries,” Chang told reporters.
“The regulation could help boost secondary consumption in the sports industry, which is estimated to be at least US$50 billion. This will help promote sports events in Taiwan,” he said.
In accordance with Chang’s plan, taxpayers, their spouses and their dependents would enjoy a maximum NT$10,000 sports events deductible quota per individual when reporting their income tax.
Chang’s proposal was among several tax deduction plans proposed by lawmakers and the government recently.
On March 25, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) of the Finance Committee proposed introducing an NT$30,000 per individual consumption deduction regulation to the Income Tax Act (所得稅法).
Lai said at the time that the nation’s tax revenue would only decrease by NT$5.8 billion (US$175,000) through his proposal.
The Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) also proposed the idea of allowing taxpayers to deduct expenditure on tickets to art events — a maximum of NT$12,000 per person — from their annual tax reports.
The proposal was seen as an incentive to encourage the public to participate in arts events and boost the art sector.
The CCA’s plan had met with opposition from the Ministry of Finance, which said the nation’s tax revenue could drop by NT$6.5 billion should the plan be approved.
When approached for comment in Taoyuan, Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) emphasized the need to thoroughly consider the effect on the nation’s coffers.
“[We should consider] whether [Chang’s proposal] would really help boost the [sports] industry and whether it would deal a blow to the nation’s finances,” he said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS