Premier William Lai (賴清德) approved a corporate income tax credit plan to boost investment in smart machinery and 5G Internet, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The measure could increase business spending on smart machinery and 5G Internet by more than 1.4 trillion (US$45.39 billion) over the next four years, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said.
The ministry drafted a bill to make tax credits available by amending Article 10 of the Act for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例), the ministry said, adding that Lai approved the draft at a meeting of the Executive Yuan earlier yesterday.
The proposed tax credits would be applicable to businesses in the manufacturing, agriculture and service sectors, among others, which spend at least NT$1 million on equipment, technology or services that are smart-machinery or 5G Internet-related, the ministry said.
Businesses are to have the option of taking a one-time 5 percent tax credit for one year or a 3 percent tax credit over three years, it said.
The tax credits are capped at 30 percent of total corporate income tax for a tax year, while corporate expenditure would be capped at NT$100 million when applying for the tax credit, it said.
Should the draft be approved by the Legislative Yuan and become law, the tax credits would take effect retroactively from Jan. 1 to the end of 2023, although tax credits would only be available for 5G Internet-related purchases in 2023, the ministry said.
In response to the global emergence of Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution, the government deems the next three years a critical period for promoting smart manufacturing, smart industry upgrades, 5G Internet, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, the ministry said.
As the full commercialization of 5G servers is anticipated in 2020, the government is to facilitate “smart living” by leveraging applied Internet technology, it said.
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
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
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai