Minister of Finance Yen Ching-chang (
Yen made the remarks at a meeting organized by the finance ministry on credit card services and problems, with the participation of more than 200 representatives from the government and academic, industry and commerce communities.
Yen said the finance ministry will study South Korea's experience in allowing taxpayers to deduct a certain percentage of credit card spending from their taxable income with a view to encouraging the use of plastic currency.
"We'll conduct a feasibility study before deciding whether to follow in South Korea's footsteps to encourage credit card use with tax deductions," Yen explained.
South Korea currently allows citizens to deduct 10 percent of their credit card spending from their taxable income, but the maximum deduction cannot exceed US$2,300.
This was the first time that the finance ministry has organized a national meeting to discuss issues related to credit card promotion, management and regulation.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Noting that formulating a safe, convenient financial service environment is the government's unavoidable obligation, Chang said he is satisfied with the finance ministry's efforts to review credit card problems and mull effective strategies to resolve relevant issues.
Speaking on the same occasion, Yen said Taiwan's credit card market has seen robust growth over the past decade.
Yen said the number of credit cards circulating locally jumped from 920,000 at the end of 1991 to 20 million by the end of June 2001, marking a 21.7-fold increase.
And credit card spending also registered a 19.2-fold increase, zooming from NT$37.4 billion (US$1.09 billion) at the end of 1991 to NT$719.8 billion by the end of 2000, Yen said.
According to finance ministry statistics, Taiwan now has 60 credit card issuing institutions, 14 clearance institutions, and more than 7 million credit card holders. Each user has an average of three credit cards.
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