■TAXES
Statement rules loosened
Foreign taxpayers can now apply for an Individual Income Tax Statement at any tax office in Taiwan, effective immediately, the Ministry of Finance’s Taipei National Tax Administration (TNTA) said on Friday. The TNTA said taxpayers in the past could only apply for the statement — a certificate indicating that taxes have been filed and paid — at the original office where the individual filed his or her taxes. The TNTA said foreign taxpayers should present their ARC or passport to apply for the statement in person. A proxy can also help with the proper documentation.
■ENERGY
Team touts chicken power
A research team recently introduced a thermal electricity generation technology that converts the heat used when frying chicken into “green” electricity. Lee Jinn-shing (李進興), a research fellow at the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, said the project uses a waste heat energy renewal system to harvest 20 percent of the thermoelectricity generated by cooking oil. The energy can then be used to power lights, radios, electric fans or electronic signage. The system also lowers the temperature around the fryer to about 94°C — compared with oil temperatures of about 380°C — which could be a boon to fried chicken stall operators, who often work for more than 10 hours a day in high temperatures. Mass-produced, the systems would cost NT$10,000 each and could generate a total of NT$200 million (US$6.4 million) in production value, Lin said.
■MILITARY
MND censured over losses
The Control Yuan censured the Ministry of National Defense (MND) earlier this week for its poor efficiency in recouping losses from military school dropouts. Until recently, students at military academies and preparatory schools had their tuition fees paid for them and received stipends for living expenses. Dropouts, however, were expected to repay this money. According to an MND report issued in late 2003, NT$1.1 billion (US$34.38 million) had not been collected from dropouts, according to the watchdog body that monitors the civil service. This figure was NT$1.16 billion at the end of 2008, with 5,136 military dropouts failing to repay their education fees and living stipends, the Control Yuan said. “Investigations show that the annual collection rate ranged between 3.02 percent and 5.36 percent during the five-year period,” the Control Yuan said in its censure. About NT$400 million of the unpaid compensation could never be collected because time limits have expired, the relevant files or documents were lost or for other reasons.
■TOURISM
RDEC hosts English market
Businesses held a “Happy English Market” at the Red House in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) yesterday, encouraging both customers and vendors to speak English in an effort to make the nation more tourist-friendly, organizers said. The one-day event was aimed at showcasing government efforts to help local businesses attract foreign customers, said Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥), deputy minister of the Executive Yuan’s Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC). Thirteen store representatives received awards under the commission’s English Services Emblem Project. Under the project, a team of commission members and foreign advisers visited businesses around Taiwan, rating companies based on the communication abilities of employees and the multilingual accessibility of Web sites, signage and packaging.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition