Lawmakers yesterday expressed skepticism about the Ministry of Finance's Alternative Minimum Tax proposal, saying that the exclusion of individuals' overseas income and the continuation of five-year tax breaks for prospective businesses have created loopholes in the landmark taxation reform.
The ministry's revised draft proposal obtained the Cabinet's approval late last month.
Ahead of formal legislative discussion of the proposal next week, the Taiwan Solidarity Union's (TSU) legislative caucus yesterday invited Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (
TSU Legislator Kuo Lin-yung (
In response, Lin said that taxing overseas income has been listed as a mid-term goal. However, as taxation of foreign income involves complex factors and requires time to draw up well-rounded measures, the ministry will address the controversial issue in the next stage of tax reforms.
Chien Hsi-chieh, convener of the pan-purple alliance, said that only by establishing a fair taxation system can a nation develop a sound financial system.
However, 15 of Taiwan's 40 richest people managed to pay tax at a rate of just 1 percent, which might lead to serious social problems and give rise to criticism that the government robs the poor to benefit the rich, he said.
TSU Legislator Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said she disapproved of the proposal's
continuations of the five-year tax exemption for new businesses in
accordance with the Statute for Upgrading Industries (促進產業升級條例).
These companies will not be included in the new scheme's tax base.
She added that this design has fallen short of the public's expectations for
building an integrated tax system.
Lin Mei-hsueh (林美雪), director of the Industrial Development Bureau's
industrial policy division, said the government has to keep its promises to
businesses that decided to invest in Taiwan because of the five-year
tax-free incentive.
Maintaining consistency in the implementation of government policies is more
important than helping prospective business groups to turn a profit, she
said.
ASML Holding NV’s new advanced chip machines have a daunting price tag, said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), one of the Dutch company’s biggest clients. “The cost is very high,” TSMC senior vice president Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, referring to ASML’s latest system known as high-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV). “I like the high-NA EUV’s capability, but I don’t like the sticker price,” Zhang said. ASML’s new chip machine can imprint semiconductors with lines that are just 8 nanometers thick — 1.7 times smaller than the previous generation. The machines cost 350 million euros (US$378 million)
EXPLOSION: A driver who was transporting waste material from the site was hit by a blunt object after an uncontrolled pressure release and thrown 6m from the truck Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said yesterday there was no damage to its facilities after an incident at its Arizona factory construction site where a waste disposal truck driver was transported to hospital. Firefighters responded to an explosion on Wednesday afternoon at the TSMC plant in Phoenix, the Arizona Republic reported, citing the local fire department. Cesar Anguiano-Guitron, 41, was transporting waste material from the project site and stopped to inspect the tank when he was made aware of a potential problem, a police report seen by Bloomberg News showed. Following an “uncontrolled pressure release,” he was hit by a blunt
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which makes servers and laptop computers on a contract basis, yesterday said it expects artificial intelligence (AI) devices to bring explosive growth to Taiwan’s electronics industry, as AI applications are starting to run on edge devices such as AI PCs. Taiwanese electronics manufacturers such as chipmakers, component suppliers and hardware assemblers are likely to benefit from a rapid uptake of AI applications, Mike Yang (楊麒令), president of Quanta Cloud Technology Inc (雲達科技), a server manufacturing arm of Quanta, told reporters on the sidelines of a technology forum in Taipei yesterday. “I believe the growth potential is promising once
RETALIATION: Beijing is investigating Taiwan, the EU, the US and Japan for dumping, following probes of its market, as well as tariff hikes on its imports The Chinese Ministry of Commerce yesterday said it had launched a dumping investigation into imports of an important engineering chemical from Taiwan, the EU, the US and Japan. It would probe imports of polyoxymethylene copolymer, a thermoplastic used in many precision parts used in phones, auto parts and medical equipment, the Chinese commerce ministry said. The ministry is reviewing materials provided by six Chinese companies that applied for assistance on behalf of the industry on April 22, it said. The probe will target polyformaldehyde copolymer imported from suppliers in the EU, the US, Taiwan and Japan last year, and will assess any damage