A series of new tax measures will take effect on income earned this year and be applied for the first time when individual taxpayers and companies file their income taxes next year.
The most significant of the changes will lower corporate income taxes from 25 percent to 20 percent and lower tax burdens for individual taxpayers in two different ways.
The new measures will also obligate Taiwanese nationals to pay a minimum 20 percent income tax on specific categories of income earned abroad while income from investment-linked insurance policies will become taxable.
Individual taxpayers will benefit from “double cuts” — a downward adjustment in tax rates and the raising of the lowest level of taxable income for each tax bracket.
The tax rates of 6 percent, 13 percent and 21 percent will be cut by 1 percentage point to 5 percent, 12 percent and 20 percent respectively, while the highest marginal tax rates of 30 percent and 40 percent will remain intact.
The lowest tax rate of 5 percent will be paid on taxable income up to NT$500,000, up from the previous NT$410,000.
The 12 percent tax bracket will cover taxable income between NT$500,000 and NT$1.13 million (US$35,000), up from NT$1.09 million last year, and the 20 percent tax bracket will be applied to taxable income up to NT$2.26 million instead of the NT$2.18 million ceiling for last year’s income.
Although the highest marginal rates will not be adjusted, they will also be applied to higher levels of taxable income.
The 30 percent tax bracket will cover income from NT$2.26 million to NT$4.23 million, up from NT$4.09 million, while the 40 percent marginal tax rate will be applied to income above NT$4.23 million.
Taxpayers filing for last year’s income tax returns this year will also get some breaks through higher exemptions and deductions. The new measures are expected to save individual taxpayers between NT$300 and NT$2,000.
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