Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) on Saturday said that if elected president, he would levy additional taxes on wealthy people that would earn the government about NT$160 billion (US$5.14 billion) annually.
As one of the richest people in the nation, he has a better understanding than many about how to tax wealthy people, he said.
“While others expect to collect only NT$8 billion to NT$15 billion in taxes on rich people, my method is expected to collect as much as NT$160 billion,” Gou wrote on Facebook.
After entering the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) primary, in which he is one of five candidates, Gou called for a new tax on the richest people to encourage them to shoulder a bigger burden of social welfare costs.
“The richest people should bear a greater share of the social responsibility,” he said, adding that his “special taxation” program would collect taxes from the richest 1,000 people in three brackets.
As a vocal critic of the efforts of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to reduce the retirement benefits of military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers, Gou has repeatedly said that an additional tax on wealthy people would be the right move in pushing for social welfare.
A low birthrate and an aging society are the most pressing threats facing Taiwan, and a new tax on rich people would be an ideal way to expand the government’s coffers and help the nation solve these social problems, Gou said.
In a bid to boost the nation’s birthrate, he promised that if he is elected, his government would cover childcare costs for children aged six or under.
Former Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), another KMT presidential hopeful, said Gou’s proposed tax could have a negative effect.
There were only 123 people in Taiwan who paid personal income tax of more than NT$100 million last year, Chu said.
Chu urged Gou to check his data before calculating how much tax revenue his proposal would bring in.
“Do not kill the goose that lays golden eggs,” Chu said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS