Electronic invoices will soon be available for the first time at brick-and-mortar stores on a trial basis, as part of a government plan to gradually replace paper receipts with e-invoicing by 2012, the Ministry of Finance said.
Customers who shop with smart cards or store membership cards at 27 designated 7-Eleven and Hi-Life convenience stores, or at Pxmart supermarkets, yesterday began to have their purchase information and invoice numbers automatically transferred to a database operated by the ministry’s Financial Data Center, Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) said.
Other devices with built-in chips or radio-frequency identification, such as watches and cellphones, will also be used for e-invoicing in later stages of the project, Lee added.
About 11.5 billion invoices are printed every year, according to statistics. If 8 billion paper receipts could be replaced by electronic invoices a year, 80,000 trees could be saved, Lee said.
In an attempt to conserve resources, the ministry has decided to push for comprehensive e-invoicing to make shopping more convenient and eco-friendly.
The reform is estimated to reduce the invoice process cost by NT$7.4 billion (US$248 million) between this year and 2013. The reduction is forecast to reach as much as NT$120 billion once the whole country is using paperless invoices, Lee added.
Two further stages of the e-invoicing trial will take place at more shops and retailers in March and June, the ministry said.
Currently, online shops, TV shopping channels and -business-to-business firms have all already taken advantage of electronic billing since the ministry set up an e-invoice platform in 2006.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS