Reactions are mixed over news that the government may scrap the commodity tax (
A Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday that the Ministry of Economic Affairs is proposing along with the Council for Economic Planning and Development a plan to abolish the commodity tax.
The ministry and council hope doing away with the tax will help revitalize battered traditional industries and increase job opportunities, the paper said, without citing sources.
The goals would be achieved by also providing five-year tax breaks for new investment in traditional manufacturing and related technical services, the government hopes.
The abolition of the commodity tax was among the major recommendations made by participants at the Economic Development Advisory Conference (
The elimination of the tax would lower production costs, benefitting companies in the automobile, natural gas, gasoleum, steel, glass, cement and home appliances industries.
"The proposed tax cut [should it be carried out] will help boost domestic investment, which in turn will generate more tax revenue," said TSU Legislator Huang Chung-yuan (
By levying no commodity tax, Huang said he believes many traditional industries would be willing to increase the amount they invest in Taiwan instead of moving overseas.
But others such as Chi Schive (
"In order to make investment more possible, the commodity tax should be abolished," Schive said. "But in view of the country's current fiscal difficulties, whether the government can come out with a comprehensive plan to cover the revenue shortfall is more important."
To make up the revenue shortfall, Schive suggests the government impose the so-called "luxury tax" on some expensive items or a "sales tax" for everything except food.
The Ministry of Finance opposes the move to axe the commodity tax. The ministry instead plans to propose a conditional concession by replacing the current commodity tax on oil products and automobiles with the "environmental tax," the report said, without elaborating.
According to government statistics, oil products and automobiles generate nearly 90 percent of total commodity tax revenue each year.
In 2001, commodity tax revenue amounted to NT$133.8 billion, with NT$80.8 billion coming from oil products and NT$33.5 billion from the automobile sector.
"In the short term, the proposed tax removal may help benefit the domestic economy," said Hsu Sung-ken (
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique