Taiwan has been removed from the EU’s observation list of noncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes thanks to amendments to two laws, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
The amendments were made to Article 29 of the Act for the Establishment and Management of Free Trade Zones (自由貿易港區設置管理條例) and Article 35 of the International Airport Park Development Act (國際機場園區發展條例), which now stipulate that profit-seeking enterprises engaged only in preliminary or auxiliary business activities or their delegates that purchase, import, store or deliver products in free-trade zones and are reviewed and approved by the managing authority of the zones would be exempted from profit-seeking enterprise income tax on the revenue from sales of the products, the Department of Navigation and Aviation said.
The amendments were promulgated by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Jan. 16.
The EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council in 2017 informed 64 nations, including Taiwan, that they needed to adjust their systems.
The EU thinks that the nation’s free-trade zones and international airport park treat domestic and foreign companies differently when it comes to income tax benefits, the department said.
The Executive Yuan in 2016 promised the EU that it would revise income tax benefits offered to businesses in free-trade zones and at the international airport park, assigning transportation ministry and Ministry of Finance officials to engage in bilateral negotiations with Brussels.
After proposed amendments to both acts were accepted by the EU, the Legislative Yuan approved them on Dec. 28 last year.
On Tuesday last week, the EU removed Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia, as well as 21 other nations, from its “gray list” of noncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, which consists of nations in which tax reform discussions are ongoing.
Countries deemed noncooperative tax jurisdictions are placed on the “black list,” which includes the United Arab Emirates, Nicaragua and 13 other nations, the department said.
The amendments would help increase tax revenue, it said, adding that by making the income tax scheme clearer and more reasonable to foreign investors, it would also lower their tax burden and operational risks.
The Ministry of Finance is streamlining the formulas used to calculate the profit contribution from foreign investors and drafting amendments to subsidiary laws, which would facilitate the development of free-trade zones into international logistics centers, the department said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS