President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday affirmed legislative efforts to lower the business income tax to 17 percent, saying it would increase Taiwan’s competitiveness.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-controlled legislature voted on Friday in favor of the KMT caucus’ proposal to amend the Income Tax Act (所得稅法), which will lower the business income tax rate from 20 percent to 17 percent. The new regulation will apply to earnings starting this fiscal year.
Ma yesterday said the legal revision would take effect after he signs it into law next week. The new tax rate would be the same as that of Singapore, he said. Although the cut will reduce tax revenues, it has been estimated that it will create business opportunities worth about NT$69 billion (US$2.15 billion) and that the shortfall could be offset by other taxation.
Most importantly, the new rate will increase Taiwan’s competitiveness with other countries, he said as he addressed an event held in Taipei County’s Banciao City to mark the 10th anniversary of an association for people originally from Changhua that live in Taipei County.
Ma said the economy has bounced back from last year’s trough and is continuing to pick up, adding that the growth is projected to be sustained during the second half of the year. The number of salary workers taking unpaid leave has dropped from 230,000 to 1,000, he said. Unemployment also fell to 5.39 percent last month, the eighth consecutive decline since June last year, he said.
With public consumption restored and exports increasing, Ma said this year’s economic growth has been adjusted upward from 3.39 percent to 6.14 percent.
As for a government initiative to cut carbon emissions, Ma said the government had originally planned to lower carbon dioxide levels to that of 2008 by 2020, but now he was proud to say that it can be reduced to the standard of 2005 by 2020 and to that of 2000 by 2025.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it