The Executive Yuan yesterday presented a list of 18 priority bills to the legislature for deliberation in the new legislative session, which begins today.
Included in the list were three amendments drawn up to deliver on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign promise to allow Chinese college students to study in Taiwan and to recognize diplomas issued by certain Chinese institutions of higher education.
An amendment to the Statute Governing the Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) was drafted to provide reciprocal tax exemption for income that Chinese air and sea operators earn from Taiwanese firms.
There have been several reports recently that Chinese authorities have demanded the return of tax credits from Taiwanese air and sea operators and prohibited remittance of their revenues back to Taiwan because Taiwan hasn’t been able to reciprocate China’s gesture.
China has given preferential treatment to Taiwanese air and sea operators following the agreement on mutual exemption from taxes and fees related to airline operations and sea transportation signed in the third round of cross-strait talks last April.
Ma and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) also urged the legislature to enact a draft bill designed to continue some of the tax breaks stipulated in the Statute for Industrial Upgrading (促進產業升級條例) that expired at the end of last year.
To make the bill more acceptable to the Democratic Progressive Party and tax reform activists who have voiced concern over tax inequity, the government had decided not to include an article stating that multinational firms establishing operational headquarters in Taiwan and meeting other requirements could pay a business income tax of 15 percent, 5 percent lower than the rate for local businesses.
Another controversial bill — the rural revitalization act — was written to carry out the government’s plan to provide a NT$200 billion (US$6.23 billion) budget over 10 years for improving rural facilities.
The bill has received scathing criticism from different sectors of society as it only contains measures to “beautify” the environment of rural villages and lacks policies that could develop the agricultural industry and help farmers raise their incomes.
Meanwhile, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) reiterated his position that the legislature should enact a statute for it to oversee the Ma administration’s talks with China on an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) proposal and other cross-strait deals.
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